Lost in Another World
by Shiemi
Summary: CH. 26 UP! Many rocks are in the place where a city is supposed to lay. How do they open the secret entrance? Who has the purest heart? And the Dark One will finally reveal himself to Harry and crew. HPOC HET
1. The Stone

Summary: As they get to Hogwarts to start their 7th year Harry and Neville get transported to another world by what they believe is a moonstone, along with Luna Lovegood. They have to choose weapons, equip themselves, and learn wandless magic through a journey full of adventures, fantasy, and missions. RPG/Video Game/Fantasy style. Please R&R.

Song: 'Romancing Train' by Move (From Final Fantasy Unlimited)

AU 7th year that won't set in Hogwarts.

Author's Notes: 1. I don't know what possessed me to write this, but I'm enjoying the idea a lot and hope others will enjoy it too. This will be almost RPG like so if you enjoy RPG games like Final Fantasy you might enjoy reading this. It will have many RPG, anime, and fantasy elements. This is NOT a crossover, but like I mentioned before I'm a huge fan of Final Fantasy games so it will have many elements video game like. I will put the name of a song before every chapter. Why? Because I tend to write while listening to music. I know, a weird tendency, but if I don't have the background I lose concentration. Most of the songs will probably be Japanese songs with some exceptions. If you want to know anything about a particular song drop me an e-mail. I don't mind.

2. This fic will have a little bit of everything: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, etc.

3. English is NOT my first language. Eep! No. Don't be alarmed. I am proof reading as best as I can, but if you feel I need help and you trust your English skills very much, say so. If it's necessary I will ask for a beta. Thank you in advance for understanding.

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**Lost in Another World**

**Ch.1: The Stone**

The boy was running, the armor too heavy for him, plus his latest whip in hand. It was a golden whip and he held it strongly in his right hand as it was his weapon of choice. The long haired boy, hair in a ponytail, wiped the blood dripping down his forehead with his left hand and kept running, but had to fight yet again. The creatures kept appearing out of nowhere like it had been during his last months in that strange place. He desperately wanted to go back to his own world and he knew that it would happen soon. His mission was complete after all and he had already saved the child princess, Marina. He started to fight the tentacled creatures with his whip. They kept aiming their poisonous tentacles at him mercilessly and he was out of poison antidotes. With great ability gained during all the time he had been trapped in that world the auburn haired fourteen year old boy raised his whip and slashed at the same time he rotated his body 360 degrees. In this way he was able to hit all of the tentacled demons and they turned into dust. The boy took something out of his pocket with his left hand and looked forward, panting as he was. Happily he started his race towards the magical door of light that would send him back to his own world, his twinkling blue eyes full of anxiety about going back home, the stone that had sent him to the strange world secured in his left hand. As the auburn haired boy reached the door he hardened his fist around the magical pearly white marble stone and was swallowed through the door of light. At the same time the boy vanished the door also disappeared.

XxXxX

Harry Potter had just arrived at King's Cross station with the Weasleys and was laughing at a joke Ginny had just made. One by one Ron, Ginny, and Harry crossed the magical barrier and started their walk toward the Hogwarts Express. They entered, still laughing, Harry was always happy when he was going to Hogwarts, his real home. He would never be able to call the Dursleys' house his home and he was glad that he was at last seventeen. As soon as he graduated Hogwarts he would destroy Voldemort and he had no plans of ever returning to his so called relatives' house. The only way he would go back was if he got possessed by some evil divinity that drove him insane.

Harry waved at Ginny as she went to a different compartment with some 6th year friends and he sat alone in another compartment. Hermione and Ron also waved to him before leaving too. Hermione was now Head Girl and Ron was a prefect so they had to go to other compartments. Harry wasn't alone for long. He was soon joined by Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. He smiled at them and sighed, leaning his head against a window. So many thoughts encompassed him... He still had a huge burden over his shoulders that most ignored. He had to be the one to vanquish Voldemort and it was something that bothered him a lot. Why couldn't he be just a normal teenager? Why did he have to be the Boy-Who-Lived and not just Harry? He looked at Neville. The boy was holding his toad, Trevor, oblivious to how close he had been to fill the Chosen One's shoes. Voldemort had chosen him, Harry Potter, the half-blood. Neville raised his eyes and smiled at Harry, then looked out the window and at Luna, who was playing with a set of what looked like woodened turnips. Harry was also looking now at Luna and raised an eyebrow at what she had in her hands, stifled a laugh, and shook his head before closing his eyes.

When Harry opened his eyes it was already almost dark outside and he was alarmed. Ron and Hermione calmed him and told him that he looked so peaceful that they didn't want to wake him. He stretched his arms and they gave him some snacks they had bought as his stomach was grumbling. He thanked them and ate quickly. Soon they would be in Hogwarts and a great dinner would be served. Mrs. Weasley's cooking was great, but Harry still missed the food served in Hogwarts, even if Hermione kept complaining about the use of house elves.

"So? Why were you so tired, mate?" asked Ron.

Harry stretched yet again and held one of his arms with the other as he stretched them upwards. "Nothing important."

"Were you not sleeping well in our house, Harry? If mum finds out she'll have a heart attack."

Harry frowned at that: "You will not tell her, Ron. I've been thinking about too many things lately and I don't want anyone worrying about me."

Hermione sat on Harry's other side: "Harry, we all worry about you, whether you like it or not. It's inevitable, you see? Has your scar hurt?"

Harry shook his head. "It's not that, Hermione." Harry didn't want to tell them. He didn't want to tell them that he was afraid of losing against Voldemort. He didn't want to say that he didn't feel prepared. He wouldn't admit that he felt weak and like a mediocre wizard with a burden too big for him to carry. "I'll change now."

Hermione nodded and she left the compartment for a while along with Luna to give Harry a break to change to school robes. After five minutes both girls re-entered the compartment and Harry was dressed just as they were arriving at Hogsmeade.

The students got off the train and Harry smiled as he heard Hagrid's voice calling the 'firs years' to escort them to the castle in boats. He definitely preferred the Thestrals pulling the carriages that he once thought were horseless. As he saw the carriages ready to take them to Hogwarts he looked at Neville and Luna. They could both see the Thestrals too, but ever since they had used the creatures to take them to the Ministry of Magic in 5th year they were no longer apprehensive about them. The Thestrals could still be a little scary for Harry's tastes, but they weren't bad at all.

In Hogwarts Harry was looking forward to have a great dinner at last. He hoped the sorting would be very fast and was about to walk to his table with Neville, Ron, and Hermione when Luna received an object from Mr. Filch. Curiosity got the better of Harry and he approached Luna a little to hear what Filch was telling her: "I still don't know if this is what your father wants, but this is the stone that I thought was a moonstone. It's been between the confiscated items ever since before I was caretaker so it's indeed an antique. Probably been there since more than one hundred years ago." Harry could see a beautiful eliptical stone that was pearly white and looked like a marble stone with a certain shine. It even had what looked like glittery pink dots embedded in it. The stone was carefully enclosed inside a small glass cube and Harry wondered how such a thing that looked like a relic got confiscated and not by Filch for what he had heard. Maybe it was confiscated by the previous caretaker or many caratakers before? Probably no one knew.

"Can I take it out?" asked Luna curiously and Filch shrugged. The caretaker honestly didn't know if the stone was dangerous. As a Squib he had never dared take it out because he was afraid of it. Luna started to open the glass cube as the students were still entering the Great Hall and getting into their respective tables.

Neville approached the Ravenclaw girl that had protuberant eyes. He seemed worried all of a sudden: "Luna, you shouldn't get that out. I have a bad feeling about it." Luna turned to both Harry and Neville, giving her back to Argus, and smiled before entering her hand in the glass box and removing the stone. She showed it to them.

"Isn't it beautiful? My father will be ecstatic when he sees this. He was very happy when Filch wrote to _The Quibbler _in answer to the 'Moonstone search' that had been published. Mr. Filch will receive a nice compensation even though it is unusual for _The Quibbler_'s staff to pay for things... Usually it's non-profit, but in this case..." She looked at the stone, her gaze enthralled.

Harry felt a strong desire to touch it and the same happened to Neville, even though the chubby boy had been fearful at first. At the same time both their hands touched the stone that Luna was holding a blinding light surrounded them. When the light that had illuminated the whole Great Hall vanished none of the three teens were there. Filch looked frightened as Albus Dumbledore ran towards where Harry, Neville, and Luna had been just seconds before. Ron and Hermione also ran there, their faces blanched with fear.

"What was that, Argus? What is it that just happened?" the Headmaster looked worried, but at the same time there was a twinkle in his blue eyes.

"I... I don't know what happened, professor. I gave a stone to Miss Lovegood and when she removed it from its case she disappeared with the two Gryffindor boys!"

"What did the stone looked like, Argus?"

"Well... It looked like a marble stone with tiny pink stones encrusted in it. The stone itself is pearly white and I believed it to be a moonstone. It's been between the confiscated items for a very long time."

Albus lowered his gaze and frowned. Hermione and Ron looked at him expectantly and Hermione quickly spoke. "Professor! You can bring them back, right? That wasn't a portkey, right? Was it a portkey prepared by Death Eaters to take Harry?"

Albus shook his head at all of the questions and with a very tired expression replied: "It wasn't a portkey, but it does transport powerful wizards. Harry's magic must have activated it. I cannot bring them back. They will have to come back by themselves."

Ron looked very alarmed. "How long will it take for them to come back?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled: "We do not know, Mr. Weasley, but I can assure you they will come back."

Hermione looked at Dumbledore curiously. It seemed that the ancient wizard knew about the stone, but simply wasn't stating so.

XxXxX

Neville lost his balance and fell on his behind as they suddenly appeared in what looked like an unknown land. Luna blinked several times and looked at Harry. The green-eyed teen studied the area before stating: "Somehow, we are so not in Hogwarts anymore..." His stomach grumbled and he growled. He had been so happy about dinner being served soon after the sorting and now he wasn't even in Hogwarts.

The chubby boy got up from the ground and pointed: "Harry! There's someone looking at us!"

It was true, there was a person in a beige hooded cloak that approached them. The person removed the cloak and they could see that it was a dark skinned woman with short and spiky black hair. "I am Samiria. I have been waiting for you. Just like the prophecy said, three young heroes would come to help us."

Neville, Luna, and Harry looked at each other. The woman couldn't be serious, could she? Harry cleared his throat before addressing the strange woman: "Samiria, you must be mistaken. We are just some stranded students and we just want to go back to our school."

The woman shook her head and smiled: "You are the ones we've been waiting for. Come to my house. You must be hungry. I will explain everything so that you can start the mission you are here to fulfill."

Without any more words Neville, Luna, and Harry followed the strange woman to her house. She gave them dinner, which was something Harry appreciated much, and started to tell them again about what they were supposed to be there for.

"It's been about one hundred and forty years since the last hero came. Legends say it was a young boy, younger than you three. I've read that the boy was fourteen years old and you three look older than that if I'm not mistaken. What are your ages?"

Neville was the one to answer as Harry had his mouth full in a way that reminded of Ronald Weasley. "Me and Harry are seventeen. Luna is sixteen."

Samiria looked at them and then lowered her eyes. "I wonder why the heroes are always so young..." Her dark eyes then locked with Harry's. "You are the most powerful one." Harry almost choked at this, but tried to ignore it. "What weapons do you possess?"

Harry swallowed his food and replied: "We have wands."

"Interesting. Just like the boy from so long ago. He also had a wand, but the history says that he soon found out that his wand didn't channel his magic in this world. He had to choose a weapon and learn magic in other ways. There are hidden orbs that can add to your magic skills and orbs that can add to your physical skills. You will also need weapons. Tomorrow we will search for the proper weapons for you. I can help you with that. I will also tell you what you are to do first."

"Will you accompany us the whole time? Will you help us to eventually get out of this world?" Neville looked worried. He really hoped that his grandmother would not punish him for somehow managing to disappear from school. "Gran is going to kill me."

Samiria smiled: "Well, I do hope that no one will kill you and no, I will only supply you with the basics and you will start your mission on your own."

Luna suddenly asked: "What kind of money do you use?"

"Money? Don't worry about that. I will provide you each with an empty sack. The sack will start filling itself with money as you destroy monsters."

Harry's bespectacled eyes went wide: "Destroy monsters?"

"Yes. That is part of your mission. The monsters have multiplied yet again, reaching dangerous numbers for all the people. You will have to diminish the monster population between other things."

That night Harry was in what seemed like a futon. They were together in a small room, lights were already out and he was in deep thought. When had his life become so complicated? It seemed that having Voldemort in his list of evils to vanquish wasn't enough as now the list had suddenly grown. Now he even had to fight monsters between other things. He was afraid to know what the other things were, but he wondered about the legend/history and the boy that had been their predecessor. Samiria mentioned that the boy also had a wand and that meant that the boy had been a wizard, but only fourteen years old? The boy must have been a powerful wizard. At least Harry could be sure of that aspect, but who? It couldn't have been Voldemort. Not if the boy had come there about one hundred and forty years before. That meant that if that wizard was alive he was very old and Voldemort had to be in his sixties, not one hundreds. He suddenly laughed to himself wondering if Hermione would have told him about a boy that had disappeared more than a century before registered in _Hogwarts, a History_. It was definitely a funny thought. Harry smiled thinking about his friends before finally falling asleep.

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Soooo... What do you think? Reviews will be very welcome. Is my 'Engrish' alright too? 


	2. Magic, Sword, Staff, and Guns

Author's Notes: Managed to write the 2nd chapter already! Just don't get used to it. Writing this took me quite a long time (like 5 hours with breaks!). For real! I hope to update this every Friday as max, but of course there might be sometimes when I just can't do it in time. Hope you don't mind. Enjoy!

Song: Kimi to Yakusokushita Yasashii Ano Basho Made - U-ka (Yuuka) Saegusa (From Detective Conan)

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**Ch.2: Magic, Sword, Staff, and Guns**

Mr. Filch had been very nervous ever since what had happened. He couldn't help blaming himself and thus he prepared his resignation letter and went to Dumbledore's office. His features still reflected his fear and shock of having seen the three teens disintegrate in front of him.

The students had been very silent after the mysterious disappearance while the teachers had gone berserk bombarding the Headmaster with questions. To their horror Dumbledore had simply chuckled and told them that those three students were going to be back, even if it was in a matter of months. Some of the teachers had left talking to each other about Dumbledore being out of his mind. Snape on the other hand seemed happy of having gotten rid of Potter and hoped Longbottom, Potter and the loony girl were gone for good. Those three were an unecessary nuisance after all. To the Potions Master it was a pity that the two remaining Weasleys and the know-it-all Mudblood weren't included.

Filch almost hesitated in front of the door to Dumbledore's office. He had already gone past the gargoyle and the spiral staircase, but took him more than five minutes to knock. The Headmaster's voice told the caretaker to come in and he at last entered, parchment in hand. Argus placed the letter on Dumbledore's desk and was going to leave without saying anything when the ancient Headmaster told him to sit down and have a lemon drop. Filch looked at the old man incredulously, but complied. Soon Dumbledore told him that he was not going to accept the resignation under any circumstances and even more when school had just started and they did need a caretaker in the castle.

"But sir! It's my fault those students disintegrated! I should have asked you about that stone... In my greed I..."

"Stop blaming yourself, Argus. The school needs you and that's that. About the incident, those students did not disintegrate. They were simply transported to another place. They'll be back. I already told you along with Mr. Potter's friends that they'll be back. In regards to the stone, it's true that you should have seen me first about it, but you have all your right to get rid of it. It's your department after all so you can sell it. I will ask you though to inform me of any strange objects when you decide to sell them or somehow get rid of them. That would be all."

"Thank you, professor. You are very kind." Filch managed to drag himself out of the office and Mrs. Norris started to purr as she walked between his legs, pressing her body against the lower parts of his trousers. "Come on, Mrs. Norris! We have to see if we can find students out of their beds and punish them." The old man smirked and continued on his way to completely abandon the Headmaster's office and quarters. He didn't really want to leave Hogwarts. It was his home and he was glad Dumbledore had let him stay.

Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were still in Gryffindor's common room talking about what had happened. Hermione knew that the stone had worked almost like a portkey, but at the same time it had been different. With portkeys there was no blinding light. She was extremely worried about Harry even when Dumbledore didn't seem that worried. Sometimes she actually wondered if the old Headmaster was actually out of his mind, although she suspected Dumbledore knew more about the stone than what he had let on. Maybe it had happened before and Dumbledore had been a teacher then. The stone was a confiscated item after all. So much she and Ron had learned about it after Harry disappeared with Neville and Luna. Hermione even thought about doing something else. She was going to visit the school's library and revise every book on Hogwarts to check about mysterious disappearances from Hogwarts and if the students indeed came back.

XxXxX

Harry woke up early in the morning after having slept very little. He quickly put on his glasses and his eyes locked with Neville's. "Morning. Did you actually sleep, Neville?"

Neville looked exhausted and shook his head. "Too nervous. I could listen to my heart beating loudly most of the night. I am also nervous about Trevor. Who will feed him?"

Harry laughed a little. "I'm sure Trevor can look for insects on his own, Neville. Is Luna still asleep?"

Both boys looked at the girl. She was indeed still completely asleep, but stirred when she heard her name. Her protuberant eyes fluttered open and she looked at the two boys and smiled: "Good morning!"

Harry raised an eyebrow: "Did you sleep? For real?"

The girl sighed happily. "Oh yes! Never thought you could sleep on a futon comfortably. I think I slept through. I feel great. Hope we get weapons and kill some monsters today. Sounds amazing, don't you think?"

Harry and Neville looked at each other in disbelief, but just then Samiria entered their room. "Morning! I prepared a bath and clean clothes for you three. You cannot expect to fight anything with those long rags you've been wearing... I'll prepare some breakfast now."

As the woman left Neville muttered out loud: "Rags?"

The three Hogwarts students shook their heads and got up. They got out of the room and Samiria made a gesture for them to follow her to the place where the bath was ready. They were surprised when she led them to a big bathroom that had what looked like a pool of steamy water in it. Luna smiled before saying: "It's a communal bath. We are supposed to bathe together." Her gaze was dreamy as she stated this.

"WHAT?" Harry and Neville reacted at the same time.

Samiria simply locked the door leaving them there together. They could hear her from behind the door: "Remember to come for breakfast after the bath!"

Luna started to undress in front of the two boys without even asking for them to turn around, but Harry and Neville turned anyway and remained turned until they heard her enter the water. Both turned again to face the pool and Neville reddened as he saw Luna's clothes on the floor. The girl waved at them to come into the water. "Come on! It feels really nice." Her dreamy gaze never left her eyes.

Harry started to undress, but noticed that Luna had her dreamy gaze on them. Harry moved to one side and her eyes followed him. "Luna, stop that! Look at Neville!"

The girl complied and started to look at Neville then, who had gotten to another corner to undress. The chubby boy had heard Harry and when he noticed Luna staring now at him he reacted: "Hey! Don't look at me!"

Harry had just finished undressing and tried to run into the water when Luna's eyes were on him again. He froze and his hands quickly covered a particular area before jumping into the water. "LUUUUUNAAAAAA!" He managed to scream as she laughed. That girl was scary sometimes.

Neville also joined them quickly, wondering if Luna had seen anything of him. It was truly embarrassing.

Harry took his glasses off and placed them by the pool before submerging. The bath was truly relaxing. The bubbles prevented them from seeing each other, but he felt a shiver down his spine when Luna spoke: "Nice. I had never seen a boy naked before so I was curious. Sorry. Harry, yours is bigger than Neville's."

Harry didn't know who was more embarrassed, him or Neville. He simply submerged again for the longest time possible. Then he swam under water, but crashed against someone. He got out of the water and was face to face with Luna. Neville quickly reached them. "What happened?"

Harry was beet red, but Luna comforted him: "You simply crashed against my right thigh. It's alright."

Neville had also turned red and for some reason seemed to want to get Harry far from Luna as he started to push The-Boy-Who-Lived out of the way. Neville kind of liked Luna even if she was so strange.

After finishing bathing the three teens wondered who would get out first. They started to look at each other, waiting. Luna shook her head with a smile and got out first, Neville and Harry gaping as she let them see her with no care. She dried herself, put on some underwear, and checked for what she was supposed to wear. It looked like a beige short jumpsuit composed of a sleeveless shirt that tied with strings in 'x' forms, and shorts. Luna had to enter her feet in the shorts first and get the jumpsuit upwards to insert her arms in the sleeveless shirt and tie it properly. "I like it. My father never lets me use anything short. Pity he can't see me now." She looked at the two boys: "When are you going to come out?"

Harry and Neville were still gaping, but closed their mouths and with bravery both got out at the same time, making the girl laugh. Harry took his clothes and studied them first. His combination was composed of long black pants that were a little baggy and a black sleeveless shirt that also tied in 'x' shapes in the front just like Luna's. Neville's clothes were brown pants similar to Harry's and a short sleeved white shirt that was long enough to reach almost mid thigh. The shirt also tied in two 'x's in it's collar only. There were also belts for each of them that had different sacs attached. Harry figured that one of the sacs had to be the one for money, but wondered about the others. Harry's belt was black while Luna's and Neville's were brown. There were also cuffs that they had to connect to their wrists and Harry wondered what was the purpose of the cuffs. The cuffs were all black.

When they were all ready they looked at each other and managed to smile. Neville pointed at Harry: "You look good."

Harry laughed: "You too."

Both looked at Luna, who was wearing her dreamy gaze. Neville and Harry said at the same time: "You look good too."

"Why thank you. You two look nice. Harry, maybe you should do something about your glasses. Make them unbreakable?"

Harry took out his wand from his robes that were disposed on the floor and tried something, but like Samiria had mentioned the day before the wand didn't work. Harry then took his glasses and concentrated in channeling his magic to his hands. His glasses changed into black strong goggles that he could put on attached to his head. This way they would never fall or get into a bad angle during battle. He put them on. "What do guys think?"

Both Neville and Luna had their thumbs up in approval and Harry laughed. They made their way for breakfast and Samiria smiled when she saw them and looked curiously at Harry's new addition. "Much better. I was worried about your ability in battle with the previous pair. How did you change them?"

"I concentrated hard in what I wanted to do."

"Without your wand?" The teen nodded. "As I perceived you are indeed the most powerful. You shouldn't have been able to use magic yet. Not without the first magical orb."

Harry seemed shocked at the revelation and felt even worse when Neville and Luna stared at him, but ignoring those details he ate his breakfast of ham, bread, and cheese.

After breakfast Samiria took the three youngsters to the village, but before entering the Armory she checked their hands and frowned. Their hands were delicate and that meant that at first it was going to be very difficult for them. Still, she had to figure what would be appropriate for them and make recommendations. She looked at Harry: "You have used a sword before." It was a statement, not a question. Harry nodded. "You might want to go for swords then. Your first sword will be given here in this Armory in front of us, but afterwards you will find other swords, more powerful swords. You might exchange your sword several times during your journey. You will be provided with special gloves so that you won't hurt your hands wielding the sword and here, attach this scabbard to your back with this vest. It will be for your sword." The woman removed her own scabbard vest and Harry took it and did as told. Samiria turned to Neville: "You have strong hands so you might consider wearing knuckles for fighting in close range combat. Those strange shoes you all have will be exchanged for boots now." They all looked at their trainers, but Samiria proceeded with Neville. "Your boots will be special ones also for kicking in close range combat because I can see you have strong legs too. Still, you will also be provided with long range weapons. You will have two fire guns." Neville blinked and nodded. Samiria turned to Luna. "You look delicate, but you're not that delicate. You will need gloves to protect your hands too and special soft fur boots for quickness. I think you might do great with a staff. You'll learn how to use it quickly with the proper skill orbs." She looked at the two males: "That applies to you two also." They all nodded nervously. "Now follow me."

The three teens got into the Armory and Samiria spoke to the owner. The man looked excited and looked at the three teens. He quickly provided strong boots for Neville and Harry and soft boots for Luna. Then he showed different swords to Harry and the boy chose a partially woodened one as a starting sword. "Wise choice! You will get the handle of swords in no time." Neville put on some leather knuckles and chose two small guns. Luna chose a woodened staff.

The Armory bloke then gave gloves to both Luna and Harry. The gloves had no fingers, but they both preferred them that way. Harry was still nevous and shocked about their situation, but was recognizing that they didn't have much of a choice. Neville was the same, following what was stated, but confused. Luna was the only one who saw it all as completely normal. Samiria turned to Luna and asked her: "Do you have the key?" Luna searched in one of the sacs and took out the stone that had brought them there to the surprise of both Harry and Neville's. "Very good. Don't you ever lose it. It will be your key to go home after you complete your journey. Now that you three are equipped I am going to take you to the temple where you are going to get your first orbs and learn about your mission from the Elder.

The teens yet again followed the woman, but on their way to the temple two monsters appeared in front of them. The creatures were purple and looked slimy and as if they were melting. It was a very disgusting sight for Harry and Neville. Luna's eyes went wide with excitement. Samiria spoke: "This is bad because you still don't have skills, but you will have to fight."

Harry moved first with the sword and hit one of the creatures, but the sword went through the slime not harming the creature. "My sword doesn't work!" managed to conclude Harry in seconds as he leapt back from the creature. The creature went at him and a slimy arm hit Harry hard on the gut making the boy fall backwards feeling weak all of a sudden. Luna went against the slimy monster with her staff, but got the same result Harry got. The monster retaliated, but Luna dodged as the monster leapt back. Neville took out the guns and fired at the monster with very bad aim and the only shot that hit went though the slime unharming the monster. The monster attacked Neville hitting the boy on the chest and Neville fell on his knees. Then the two monsters at the same time produced lightning, but Samiria interfered by creating a spherical shield that absorbed the bolts.

Harry got up from the ground, saved his sword in its scabbard on his back, and raised his hand. Concentrating as hard as he could he created water and sent it against the first slimy creature. The monster melted as it received the water blast. Harry then turned to the other monster and did the same. Both monsters were gone, but Harry fell on his knees panting. Samiria gave him a replenishing potion immediately and Harry gave a quick 'thanks' feeling re-energized. "You might want to stock yourself on potions, all kinds. Now let's go to the temple and for next time, those monsters can only be destroyed with elemental magic that opposes the one they use against you."

Harry thought about the irony of needing potions in that world. Snape would have loved to hear that. Not that he would ever tell the greasy git... They followed Samiria, but couldn't avoid a second encounter. This time the creatures were bird like and Harry quickly knew that he and Luna wouldn't reach them with their weapons. Neville aimed as best as he could with the guns and hit the two birds, but then the birds retaliated against them by pecking at them. Harry covered his face with his arms, and felt the skin in his arm opening. He yelped in pain and could hear yelps from his companions. When he removed his arm he could see it was bleeding. He also noticed Luna's left hand with a gash and Neville had an open wound on his shoulder that had also ripped his shirt, which was now tainted red. Harry used a lightning bolt on one of the birds that turned it into dust instantly, but the second bird threw something at him that looked like smoke. Harry reacted: "I can't see a thing!"

Neville used his guns against the remaining bird and the bird dropped and turned into dust. After this Samiria went to Harry and let some drops fall on his goggles. Harry was now able to see and stared at the woman. "That bird cursed you with blindness. Amongst the items you will need you'll need this." She showed them the phial. "It's an eye drops potion. It clears up the blindness. Check your sacs. You might notice that some of these items have magically appeared in them. You might also have enough money to buy other necessary items."

They checked the sacs and were surprised to find that they had started to fill themselves. Harry, Luna, and Neville looked at each other in obvious shock, but Neville looked sad. "I suck!"

Samiria shook her head: "No you don't. You just need orb skills and will be able to learn how to aim properly in no time. You did a great job. Never let yourself down. Now follow me to the temple. You will need to heal before you speak with the Elder." The teens followed the cloaked dark skinned woman and at last entered the temple without anymore encounters. Samiria took them to a fountain and told them to bathe the wounds in it. They were yet again surprised as they saw the wounds heal. Neville's torn shirt also mended and the blood stains vanished. "Now you were able to use this fountain, but you will have to learn magic to heal yourselves. Come."

The Elder was a blind man who looked extremely old. He touched Harry's face and did the same with the others. "Samiria, you've found them." The woman smiled. "I still remember when the other boy came. I was younger then. His name was Al or at least that's what he told everyone that asked. What are your names?"

"Harry."

"Neville."

"Luna."

"Harry, you are the most powerful one... I think you might be more powerful than Al was, but he was younger than you when he came. Such a vivacious boy I remember. He had very beautiful blue eyes that twinkled with excitement at the smallest things. I could see then, but now I am too old. You see, I am two hundred years old."

Harry was curious about the boy that had also been there and asked: "Was Al completely by himself?"

"When he came, yes, but he met allies along the way that separated from him when he was ready to leave this world. You will also meet allies. You'll see. Now I will explain what you have to do."

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Sooo... What do you think? 'Shiemi sucks!' No, please! Not that! It took me hours to write this because I had to look up many words. I should bang my head against a wall for starting to write something like this when I lack so much in terminology! 

Two reviews! Thanxxxx! I'm being pathetic, right? Oh, well...


	3. The Mission

Author's Notes: Managed an early update! Yaiiiiii! (before Friday I mean! lol) Hope you enjoy reading this fic as I enjoy writing it!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter? Nope! Not mine! And the mumble jumble of certain elements have been fished from RPGs and anime. Kudos to their creators. Enjoy!

Song: 'Hitomi no Kakera' by FictionJunction Yuuka

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**Ch. 3: The Mission**

The ancient man continued speaking to the teenagers: "You will visit several places and find different fragments. These fragments will each have what we call summon magic. To find the summon magic fragments you will use this scanner."

Harry took the scanner and inserted it into his goggles. It became one with them. "Perfect. I see that you can use magic without having touched a magic sphere yet. You remind me of Al, young Harry." Harry looked a bit flushed and the Elder smiled. "Don't be embarrassed. As I was saying, these fragments can become one, which will be the greatest summon magic of all, the ultimate summon creature. You will be able to use it then, but getting all of the fragments won't be easy. I will also provide you with another scanner. This one will scan enemies, fiends, monsters, beasts. You will be able to learn your enemies' weaknesses." The Elder gave this scanner to Luna and she merged it with the cuff that covered her right wrist and stared at it with her protuberant gaze before smiling at the Elder. "There will be sometimes when the scanner won't work because some enemies and creatures have shields against anyone detecting their weaknesses. Be very careful when that happens, my young ones." The old man had what looked like a third scanner in his hand. "This scanner will tell you who to trust. In other words, it detects beings that are not enemies. Like the fiend scanner, sometimes it won't work because some beings in this world don't like to be detected. Be wary and careful about who you trust. When Al came here he trusted all of his allies very much, but one betrayed them. It almost cost Al his life and if it wasn't for his other allies..." The Elder lowered his face and shook his head before giving the scanner to Neville. Like Luna he merged it with his right cuff. "Be very careful and always study your allies. Appearances can be deceiving. Now I will tell you your real mission."

Neville looked alarmed: "You mean there's more? I thought it was vanquishing the excess monsters and looking for the summon magic!"

The Elder laughed and Samiria did the same, but suddenly both frowned. "No, child. The fiends and the scattering of the summon magic are a result of the real evil that has risen. After more than one hundred years we have a new dark lord, a very powerful one. The dark emperor that Al defeated to rescue princess Marina more than a century ago was nothing compared to this one. This one is an extremely powerful sorcerer and he is stealing the children in all of our cities. He has also killed many of the children's parents. He is enslaving the children beceause he grows powerful with their youthful energy. He has become greedy and wants more and more as a daily supply. We don't know what he is doing exactly with the children as after they disappear they are never seen again. We think he has them somewhere in his realm, maybe in deep sleep to consume their energy. No one has been able to come back alive to give us a report. Please save our children. Bring them back." The Elder bowed in front of the teens and they looked at each other, shocked. The Elder looked at Samiria. "Samiria, give them the skills and the first summon fragment."

The dark skinned woman fetched a box and brought it. They noticed that it had several shining white orbs, the size of ping pong balls. Samiria spoke to them: "Simply place your hand above the box. The orbs will choose their owners and will be absorbed into your bodies. You first, Harry." Harry did as instructed and several orbs went into his hand disappearing into his palm. He felt a huge warmth flowing inside him and suddenly could see different skills and magic in his mind that he knew he could easily perform. Right after Harry, Neville did the same, and then Luna. No more orbs remained in the box and Samiria put it away. Then she brought a diamond shaped object. It was between intense yellow and orange, but sometimes it became reddish. "This is your first summon fragment. I need you three to extend your hands and the summon fragment will choose its owner." The three teens extended their hands with unsure expressions and the diamond started to float. It suddenly landed on Harry's right hand and spinned on it before floating again and aiming into Harry's heart. Harry gasped when the fragment pierced his heart entering his chest, falling backwards. Neville caught him just in time before yelling.

"HARRY!" The chubby boy then looked at Samiria with a frightened gaze and the woman smiled.

"He'll be fine."

She was right. Harry coughed a bit and straightened himself. "What the hell was that?"

"The summon fragment has become one with you, Harry. Don't worry, when the time comes to make the ultimate summon that fragment will abandon your body to unite with the others. Now I will provide you with items. Some will be free, but other items will cost you. Here." The woman showed the different potions and they took some and placed them in their sacs. Luna paid for the other items that weren't free.

The Elder approached them yet again. "One last thing, young ones. I want you to do a recording for me." The three teens raised eyebrows and the old man showed them what looked like a silver pyramid. "This is Al's. I wanted to show it to you."

Harry was extremely curious about this and let the ancient play the recording. The old man pushed a button and suddenly an image appeared above the pyramid. It showed a young boy with messy auburn hair that fell everywhere on his face even when he had most of it obviously tied in a ponytail. The boy definitely had long hair and he had amazing bright blue eyes that somehow reminded Harry of someone, but he couldn't figure who. The boy looked excited and asked: "Is it working?" They heard someone reply with a 'yes' and the boy giggled. "Oh! Alright! Ahem! Name's Al. Yes, just Al. I'm a Hogwarts' student. Well, what's my story? I escape Hogwarts several nights a week to watch the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest. Yes, I know this is forbidden, but I like watching them. I have also befriended the centaurs if you can call what I have earned friendship..." The boy laughed and continued. "One night I was going after one of the unicorns. I'm sure it was a male adult and I really really wanted a hair froms its tail, but they move so fast! Further into the forest there was a clearing. It seems that the forest has several clearings. I'm still not sure. The thing is that after the unicorn disappeared I saw something that it had apparently dropped somehow. It was a very beautiful stone, this one." Al showed the stone in the image recording. "When I picked it up everything went white and suddenly I was here in this world. I still don't know what happened, but I have a mission to rescue a princess from this evil emperor. I hope everything will go smoothly and I'll be able to return to Hogwarts soon. That's all!" The boy gave a big smile and the recording stopped. Al had certainly looked energetic, thought Harry.

The old man brought a similar pyramid and the three teens recorded their introductions, how they had gotten there, and their mission. The Elder seemed very pleased with this. Afterwards, they left without Samiria. They were now on their own.

Harry looked at his companions and asked sarcastically. "Didn't that sound familiar? A dark lord to vanquish?"

"Eerily, yeah. I thought the same," replied Neville.

"Another Voldemort," said Luna in a dreamy voice and seemingly daydreaming. Harry felt strange when she actually said the name. She looked at him. "So we have to save children... Find fragments... Use your goggles to know where to find a fragment of summon magic." Harry nodded and pressed a button on his black goggles. He could see images immediately as if they were in front of his eyes. It was a complete map and he was able to see that the closest fragment was in a cave inside a forest that was near them.

"Let's go. We have to enter the forest," he motioned to the other two and they followed him.

The teens walked for a while before encountering their first fight after being equipped. The fiends were a flying gargoyle like creature, a giant black monster with tentacles, and a wolf. Harry spoke to his friends. "Neville, you take the flying one. Luna, go for the wolf. I'll deal with the one with tentacles." Neville, with perfect aim, shot at the gargoyle, but the creature retaliated by slashing him on his chest. Neville yelped in pain, but Luna created a white wave and sent it in Neville's direction, curing him instantly. The boy got up and shot again, this time finishing the gargoyle. Luna attacked the wolf with her staff and the creature bit her left arm, but she attacked again destroying it. Then she cured her arm. Harry had started attacking the tentacled monster with his sword, but the monster was very strong. It hurt Harry several times with its tentacles and Harry felt himself weakening fast before figuring that he was poisoned. "I've been poisoned!" He managed to say and Luna used a green wave on him that replenished his health and it was like an antidote at the same time. "Thanks!" Harry then decided to test the summon fragment. He felt that he could for some reason and extended his sword upwards swinging it, channeling the summon like this. He called the summon's name: "Fenghuang! I need your help!" A giant fiery bird was focused through the sword coming out of its tip and it attacked the giant black fiend burning it to a crisp in seconds. Then the bird came back to Harry, singing a beautiful song that reminded him of Fawkes and entered his body through his chest yet again.

Neville had his eyes wide: "That was bloody awesome, Harry! It looked like a phoenix, but a bit different at the same time!"

Harry nodded: "It was some kind of phoenix. It's... beautiful."

"How did you know his name?" asked Luna.

"I don't know... I felt it somehow." The other two smiled.

They continued through the forest having several encounters with different kinds of monsters. In some occassions the monsters were all terrain monsters and Neville fought with his hands and legs like Samiria had told him. He had an instinct of when to fight in close combat. Through the fights they also learned that Luna seemed to have all the curative magic. It was true that the orbs had chosen their owners. Harry had the elemental magic increased with the orbs as he already had it naturally. Neville had only two elementals, fire and thunder, amongst other magic.

Soon they found themselves close to the cave, but noticed a creature that moved really fast very close to it. "What was that?", asked Neville. "It moves awfully fast!" The boy activated his scanner, but it was unreadable. "Can't confirm it as non enemy. Luna!"

Luna used her scanner trying to follow the creature with it, but hers also was unreadable, except for one detail. "Can't read it either as a fiend, but it says that it's a dark creature."

Harry's gaze hardened. "If it's dark it must be an enemy."

Neville looked at Harry. "But it hasn't attacked us..."

The three got ready trying to follow the creature with their eyes, not losing it for one second. It kept going around them as if studying them. Suddenly it stopped and jumped to the top of the tree.

"How the hell did it do that?" asked Neville surprised. Harry kept looking at it with a glare and suddenly it jumped to another tree, then to another. It seemed to be looking at them again and it jumped towards Harry. Harry leapt back readying his sword in seconds, but the creature was really fast and tackled Harry pinning the teen to the ground. Harry lost his sword as it fell two feet from his right hand.

To the surprise of the three teens the creature asked: "Who are you? What are you doing in my territory?" Harry was able to free one of his arms from being pinned and forcefully removed the ninja like mask that covered the creature's face. In fact, the creature looked like the image Harry could remember of ninjas in his world. It was dressed in black ninja like clothing and even the mask had been the same, only leaving the eyes free, but the creature's eyes also had something similar to Harry's goggles, which Harry removed along with the mask, making the creature jump back. They found themselves looking at a boy that was probably not much older than them. The boy had wild and untamed long black hair down to his shoulders and looked Asian, but he had dark violet eyes. "Hey! Whaddaya do that for?"

Harry laughed. "You look less intimidating without these." He showed the boy the shades and the mask and the boy stuck out his tongue at Harry. "You also seem very immature..." Neville and Luna also laughed.

"This is my territory. Get out!"

"What are you? The scanner says dark creature, but you look human..." blurted Luna surprising Neville and Harry.

The boy seemed taken aback by what Luna said and frowned. "They call me a dark creature, but I harm no innocents, only fiends. The reason is this." The boy produced fangs that scared the hell out of Neville, who got behind Harry.

Neville suddenly said from behind Harry: "He is a vampire!"

The boy rolled his eyes and hid his fangs. Harry looked at him with a serious expression. "How come you don't harm innocents if you're a blood consuming creature?"

The ninja like boy raised an eyebrow before stating: "I'm allergic to human blood so I cannot consume it. Happy now?"

Harry seemed relieved and holding back a laugh. "Never heard of a vampire allergic to human blood..."

"Are you making fun of me?" asked the boy hardening his gaze, but Harry shook his head with a smile. "Good! Name's Janryu! Eighteen years old. What are your names?"

The three teens introduced each other too, but were still unsure about the person they had encountered, especially after learning that he was a vampire. Harry simply stated: "There is something we have to look for inside that cave. Can we invade your territory for a while longer until we get what we came here for?"

Janryu sat on the ground Indian style as if in deep thought and suddenly jump into a standing stance: "Alright, but under one condition." Harry gave him a questioning look and the vampire boy answered: "I want you guys to take me with you. I'm... bored here."

Neville looked nervous, but Luna smiled. Harry thought for a minute before nodding. "Okay, but you should know that we are on a dangerous journey."

Janryu smirked all of a sudden before he suddenly produced in his hands several knives and threw them at Harry, but the knives missed Harry by inches destroying a plant fiend that was behind the teen with the goggles. Harry looked back slowly and saw the plant fiend evaporating and looked back at Janryu and smirked too. "Welcome to our group. I see you're a knife thrower. I just thought you were going to kill me." Janryu smirked yet again and made a feigning innocence gesture.

Right after that they had two fights with fiends before finally entering the cave. In the cave the four started to have many fights and Janryu proved himself very useful as there were many flying monsters. Knife throwing with shots from Neville's guns were the most used, while Harry used elemental magic and Luna limited herself to cure them when needed. They quickened their pace through the cave and on several occassions Harry used the map in his goggles to guide them to the fragment until they finally got to the room where it was. Everything was very quiet and they saw the brownish diamond floating in the air. The three Hogwarts' teens approached it and extended their hands and the diamond jumped into Neville's hand making the others lower their own. The diamond spinned and then inserted itself in Neville's chest, but at the same time an earthquake started and they found themselves facing a giant monster that looked like a Chimera.

The giant Chimera was very quick and gave Harry a terrible blow with its tail that sent him flying against a wall right after Harry struck it in vain with his sword. Harry slumped to the floor leaving a trace of blood on the wall that was coming from his head. The monster then threw fire at Luna, who barely managed to dodge. Janryu threw some knives at the monster, but with its arm the chimera sent Janryu flying like it had previously done with Harry and then sent a spell at Luna that paralyzed her. Janryu seemed unconscious, but not bleeding like Harry was.

Neville looked terrified, guns trembling in his hands, as the Chimera launched an attack on him. He managed to dodge and shoot at the monster without causing a scratch on it to his horror. His eyes went wide as the Chimera lunged against him yet again.

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**Thanks to the person that reviewed. **

_**Any suggestions? Something confusing? Please review. Thanks!**_


	4. Mysterious Rescuer

Author's Notes: Managed an extremely early update! Yippee! Just don't get used to it! In aswer to yoYo's review. I know what you mean. I hope to surprise you with twists here and then. Hope this chapter is a bit different than what you would have expected. 'wink' Enjoy! On another note the system allows me to reply to logged in reviews. If readers ask questions through logged in reviews I can reply to them privately. I do answer questions! lol

Song: 'Over the Fantasy' by Kana Ueda (Final Fantasy U)

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**Ch. 4: Mysterious Rescuer**

Neville knew he had no time to dodge the new attack. He had been trying to fight the monster in vain and thoughts of how useless he was invaded his mind. He remembered Snape telling how useless and stupid he was many times. Even his family had thought once that he was a Squib. It was like he was really a good for nothing.

In his train of thoughts Neville felt strong arms grab him and someone jump with him very far from the monster. With ease the person/creature went against the monster moving so fast that Neville only managed to see a ray of white light jumping on the monster and hitting it several times. That person or whatever it was had to be even faster than the vampire plus it had to be very strong to be able to jump far carrying a big boy like him. He wasn't really fat, but he was still heavy. Neville was amazed by the turn of events, but the creature suddenly appeared by his side and simply said in a deep male voice: "Use the summon you just obtained." Then the creature disappeared. Neville was only able to memorize that whatever it was, the creature was too white, tall, and shiny. His eyes still hurt from the brightness, but he felt very sure of himself. He closed his eyes feeling the energy surrounding him. The energy was so strong that when the Chimera stroke with its magic it bounced back towards it making it growl.

"Master of the wind, Gryphoner, give me your strength," said Neville. From his hands formed a cloud of smoke that took the form of a Griffin. Neville controlled the summon and invoked a hurricane that the summoned beast created by spinning very fast while moving its wings. The beast ended up being part of the hurricane that took the Chimera and started to dismember it little by little. The creature howled seemingly in pain until it had vanished and Gryphoner entered its master's body.

As fast as he could Neville took out of his sac a powder and sprinkled it over Luna, who quickly regained her movement. Her eyes almost had a twinkle in them when she stared at him. "That was great, Neville."

Longbottom could feel himself blushing, but reacted. "Harry!" Both teens ran to their friend, who was growling putting his hand on the bleeding part of his head.

"Don't move too much," warned Luna before performing a healing spell.

Harry felt much better immediately, although embarrassed. "Sorry I wasn't much help." Neville grinned at him and Harry looked around. "Where's Janryu?"

"Right here." The vampire, who had just joined the little reunion, also looked ashamed of himself. It was obvious that the Chimera hadn't been a regular fiend. "That was a great level fiend. Probably the boss of this cave," he managed to announce with a tinge of pink adorning his cheeks. "How did you defeat it?"

Neville wanted to feel proud, but couldn't. "I defeated it with Gryphoner." Harry and Janryu blinked questioningly. "My summon!" They looked like they were about to congratulate him when he stopped them with a hand gesture: "But I received help from an unknown creature."

Harry's eyes went wide and Janryu looked alarmed and asked: "WHAT?"

"I'm just telling you guys the truth. If it hadn't been for that guy I would have probably gotten pummelled by that monster. Did you see him Luna?"

The girl nodded. "He was fast. Faster than Janryu. Very tall..." added the girl with dreamy eyes before continuing. "He was dressed in fluttering white clothes and his hair was also white and going all sides like Harry's, but more abundant. I couldn't see his face because the collar of his fluttering shirt was too high... I don't know what kind of weapon he had either. Maybe a staff, but not regular like mine. If it was a staff I'm sure it had loops and a crystal in the upper part."

Harry was impressed: "Luna, now I know why you are a Ravenclaw. So many details!" Then he frowned: "I'm a bit worried about that guy suddenly appearing out of nowhere. We have to be more aware as there might be strange fellows following us. I will not assume that the person is good." He suddenly turned to Janryu.

"What?" asked the vampire, but Harry shook his head. Harry still didn't completely trust vampire boy either.

The crew left the cave getting very few fiend encounters on their way back to the forest. Harry activated his scanner and studied the location of their next summon. It was in a village, about four kilometers from their location. He wondered how many summons there were and hoped they weren't too many. They started on their walk when Harry suddenly asked Neville: "Can you Apparate?" The boy nodded and Harry smirked. "Grab Luna and I'll Apparate with Janryu. Just calculate about four kilometers to the East." In a minute the four had Disapparated and Apparated in front of the entrance to a village. "That was easy, wasn't it? Plus it's not like we have the Ministry of Magic watching us..." Neville actually grinned at the last comment, while Luna smiled at them both. She didn't know how to Apparate yet even if they didn't have the Ministry there to confirm whether they had licenses or not.

As they walked through the village Harry noticed the soured faces of the villagers, although some stared at them as if they were seeing ghosts. Most were old people and the absence of children and even teenagers caused a stir inside him. The Elder hadn't told them if the children included teenagers and that little detail started to gnaw at him. The Elder had at least called Neville 'child.'

An old woman approached them all of a sudden: "You are children. Flee from this place or they'll get you too," she stated. Her statement confirmed Harry's worst fears. Those people considered teenagers as children.

"At what age you stop being a child?" he asked the woman needing an answer.

The old woman looked at him incredulously and answered: "You are a child until you reach the age of twenty. You look fifteen to me."

Harry cursed in his mind. He hated not being tall, but no point in blaming the Dursleys and the way they malnourished him now. "Would they return to a town that they already emptied of children?"

This time it was a man that could be in his fifties that answered: "They'll come back. They always come back to check, over and over and over."

Neville gulped, Luna was expressionless, and Harry frowned. Janryu didn't seem worried at all. Vampires were probably identified and ignored. With chenched teeth Harry said: "Great! So we have to watch our backs too... Now I really know that we might be definitely being followed," he pointed to his companions.

The people suddenly started to get into their houses as fast as they could and a man that looked in his twenties, mounting a horse, started to yell: "THE GUARDS ARE COMING! THE GUARDS ARE COMING!" His eyes landed on the foursome and he looked horrified: "CHILDREN? GET OUT OF HERE! HIDE! THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU!"

At first they didn't move, but Janryu made them react. "Follow me!" Harry, Neville, and Luna ran behind Janryu and managed to get between trees. Janryu quickly climbed one of the trees and motioned for them to do the same and they did. Luna had trouble climbing, but between the three boys helped her up into the foliage of the huge tree Janryu had chosen. "They never check the trees. In fact, they never look up. Never. I've seen them before."

Trusting the vampire boy they observed as many creatures on black horses invaded the village. The creatures dismounted and went house by house checking. They also checked barrels, corners, and even bins. They checked the stables, armories, everywhere. The creatures didn't look human. They were more like black shadows and Harry couldn't really figure if they were even dressed. They looked too much like silhouettes and if they were wearing clothes it had to be some sort of spandex fabric. Luna started to use her scanner, but it made a beeping sound, making the boys open their eyes in horror. Harry mouthed at her: "Are you crazy?"

She understood plus she had also noticed the sound, even if it was barely audible. She froze, not touching the scanner anymore, as two sihouettes stared at the trees. Harry could feel sweat forming on his forehead and around his goggles. He swallowed as the creatures approached the trees and he closed his eyes thinking: 'Please don't look up. Please don't look up.' He opened his eyes to see that the creatures hadn't looked up plus with their closeness he confirmed that they were not human. They didn't even had mouths and he wondered if they had eyes or noses because he couldn't see those either. After a while the creatures were on their horses and left, but the teens stayed on the tree about fifteen minutes more before getting down.

Janryu grinned at them when they were finally with their feet on the ground: "I told you they never look up. See?" He winked at them.

Harry was still nervous though. It had been a while since he had felt that nervous. It reminded him of when he was a child and hid from Dudley and crew because they wanted to use him as a punching bag. He sighed in relief as if expelling all of the air he had held up in the tree, but suddenly his eyes lightened. "Next time we can use Disillusionment charms!"

Neville looked amazed: "Yeah! That's a great idea! I guess we were too nervous to even think about it, huh?"

Harry looked at Luna: "Please, don't you ever do that again."

"Sorry. I won't, but I confirmed that those things weren't human and that they repel magical attacks."

Harry had to admit that yet again he was impressed with the girl, but her curiosity could have cost them a lot. Still, he wasn't going to snap at her. She had learned already that the scanner, even if it wasn't noisy, it still emitted a sound.

The villagers were slowly coming out of their houses. It seemed that even when their houses were registered they felt safer inside rather than outside when those creatures came. Some looked at them with surprised expressions. "They didn't get you?" asked a middle aged woman.

Harry and his companions shook their heads and decided to ignore the stares and proceed with their journey. Harry used his scanner again and noticed that the object they were looking for was in a mine. He quickly asked a random villager: "Is the mine abandoned?"

The old man looked at Harry before replying: "It's been abandoned for some years now, yes. Don't go in there. There are monsters roaming inside."

The four teens quickened their pace and entered a path that had been abandoned for quite some time. There was almost no path anymore as the wild nature had almost covered it. They proceeded toward the mine and noticed woodened panels that had been nailed to somewhat cover the entrance. Harry decided to experiment a little. "_Accio_ wood panels!" It worked. The wood covering the entrance was ripped from it and flew towards Harry, but he quickly said: "_Consto!_" making the wood stop in midair and letting it drop.

Janryu stared at Harry confused. "How the hell did you do that? You didn't tell me you were a powerful mage! Only a powerful mage can make such a display!"

"I am a wizard, not a powerful mage. Neville is also a wizard and Luna is a witch. They can do it too."

Janryu looked at the other two, disbelief all over his face. "Really?" They all nodded. "Now I feel like an idiot. I can do some magic, but it's a bit limited. I know that if I train a lot I'll get better, but I've been too lazy. Now I think it would be handy!"

Harry laughed a little and then motioned for them to approach the mine's entrance, but stopped as an exceedingly beautiful girl came out of the mine and smiled at them. The girl was truly and incredibly beautiful. She had long brown hair down to her waistline and blue eyes. Her beauty radiated everywhere. Even Janryu looked like he was about to start drooling. The girl also had great curves that were accentuated with her tight and almost transparent canary yellow shirt and very short brown leather skirt. "Hi!" She even waved when she greeted them.

Neville gulped and Harry waved back feeling like an idiot. What in the world was a girl doing inside that mine? Luna on the other hand looked wary and quickly started her scanner and her eyes went wide. Just at that moment the gorgeous being was approaching them and in less than a minute was in front of Neville. Luna yelled: "SHE IS A FIEND! SHE IS A GORGON! A MEDUSSA!"

Harry reacted as soon as he heard Luna's yells and they saw the girl lose all of her beauty and transform into a horrendous creature that was sort of shaped like a woman from the waist upwards, but as a snake from the waist downwards. The whole body had scales and she was olive green in color. The once beautiful face was wrinkled and full of scales like the rest of her body and her hair had changed into lots of snakes. Neville had been turned into stone and Janryu, Luna, and Harry jumped to different spots. Harry heard Luna: "Don't look into her eyes!"

He had already suspected that and he got behind a tree with his sword ready. He heard something plunge into the tree's trunk and noticed an arrow. The gorgon had a bow and arrow. 'Great!', he thought. He suddenly heard the creature scream in pain and came out of hiding. Luna had used '_Diffindo'_ and had severed some of the snakes in the gorgon's head. From a corner Janryu threw some knives with perfect aim piercing the gorgon, but she made the knives abandon her body plus the snakes grew back in her head. As she was giving her back to Harry he ran towards her with his sword and aimed it at her head, but at that moment she turned and he closed his eyes waving his sword madly in front of him. She prepared to shoot an arrow at him, but a beam broke her bow and she howled furiously. At that moment Luna finished turning Neville back to normal, grabbed him by the hand, and took him to a corner behind bushes. Harry had no idea where the beam had come from, but he had heard its sound and opened his eyes quickly being able to decapitate the gorgon as she was busy trying to look for the attacker that had disarmed her. It was a quick swing of his sword, but as her head fell and he saw the blood coming out of her neck he retched, even if after a minute or two the body and head vanished. Just as he finished emptying his stomach he managed to look between some trees and saw something white move extremely fast and out of his view. It was the area where the beam had come from, but he hadn't really seen the beam.

"Never ever swing a sword in front of you with your eyes closed! What the hell were you thinking?" Janryu took Harry away from his thoughts about the rescuer with that.

Harry flushed a little: "Sorry about that." Then he looked fixedly at Janryu. "Are gorgons common?"

The other sighed and dropped to sit on the ground in front of the mine before answering: "Yes, they are. I should have known, but for some reason I couldn't detect her, but your friend's scanner did. I think that the scanner might not have worked if it had been a male the one who had it though."

Harry looked worried at this revelation, but he needed more information: "Do they always look the same? You know, the same girl appearance?"

Janryu's eyes hardened and he shook his head: "No. They always look different. Last time I encountered one I was fifteen, three years ago. She was a very pretty curly haired blonde, but then I was able to perceive her as what she really was..."

Neville surprised them when he spoke: "Maybe because of your age? Maybe your mind wasn't in girls at fifteen yet and that's why you were more aware. Maybe now that you are a little more grown up and probably thinking about girls and all your senses have weakened."

Janryu gave Neville a curious look before nodding. "That might be it. At least this one transformed quickly. Some guys have even been led to a bed by gorgons if you know what I mean." He shuddered and both Harry and Neville flinched. "Luna, thanks!"

The girl looked at them and smiled before changing the topic completely by looking upwards. "The sky looks so beautiful, doesn't it? Just look at the clouds..."

Janryu looked at Neville and Harry with a raised eyebrow and the other two started to laugh. After this Harry told them about the guy in white and the others confirmed that they had noticed the beam, but not the one who caused it. Then they entered the mine finally. They had several encounters with different creatures, but to their relief there were no more gorgons. At a certain area of the mine they got to a dead end and Harry analyzed the map and it kept indicating that the summoning fragment was behind that wall. "I don't get it! It says that the fragment is behind this wall, but..."

Luna pushed him aside and signaled for all of them to stay back. She produced a spherical light on her hand and said: "_Bombarda_!" and threw it against the wall, making it explode. They had to quickly dock and take cover because the rumble caused part of the mine's ceiling to collapse.

The boys looked at Luna with fearful expressions, but she was just humming to herself with dreamy eyes and suddenly spoke: "Now there's no wall. We can get it now."

They shook their heads at the girl and moved on and they did find themselves in front of the floating fragment. It changed constantly from blue to white and white to blue. The three chosen teens extended their hands and the fragment chose very quickly. It chose Luna and entered her. To their relief nothing happened and throughout all the way to the outside of the mine there were no encounters at all. They got outside thinking that everything had been easy, but then they found themselves surrounded by horrendous gorgons of every colour. Harry quickly changed something in his goggles instinctively. It made him blind, but not entirely. He could see the silhouettes of the gorgons through their body heat and he was able to notice a very beautiful girl behind all the gorgons. Even with this type of blindness he could see the girl perfectly as if he was using his normal eyesight. He hadn't seen her before activating the system in his goggles. The girl was partially hidden behind trees and wore what looked like a purple long dress. She had diamond colored hair that fell down almost to her knees and she was looking at them, but it seemed that the gorgons couldn't detect her. Harry suspected that she might be actually the gorgon queen or something like that.

The gorgons prepared their bows and removed arrows from their carcasses. Harry saw to his horror that Neville and Janryu were already petrified. Their body heat was null. It seemed that Luna wasn't affected by the petrifying gaze. The gorgons shot arrows at them, but Luna created a transparent shield in front of her and Harry and the arrows bounced on it. One of the gorgons suddenly opened her mouth and sent a smoke towards Luna. It went through the shield and Luna collapsed to the ground in deep slumber. Harry readied his sword thinking that this was the end and he saw a gorgon use the same breath technique at him. Even if his sight was limited he could still see plenty, but avoid the petrifying gazes. Soon he could feel his eyelids getting heavier behind his goggles and the last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was the girl in purple raising her hands and radiating a very powerful ray of white light that seemed to be expanding. He was able to see the white colour of the light to his surprise, but then, he saw no more as he dropped to the ground completely asleep.

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Thanks to the ones that reviewed: yoYo and dark672

_**Reviewing is good for the soul. (Ha! Took this from another author) Please do so. Thanks! **_


	5. Dianeia

Author's Notes: Cheeky... Brat? Hidoi! (Mean!) Ehehehehe! Kidding! Hmm... You (yoYO) have a point, but Harry will be suspicious for a while because of what the Elder said. You can be sure that if the Elder hadn't said that he would be quite trusting, but I don't see Harry as trusting in others as Dumbledore at least. Thanks for that review! On another note to readers, Bijon came from a play with the word 'vision' so 'bi' is pronounced like 'bee'. You get the idea, I hope... Well, I did manage another quick update! I'm on a roll! Nah! I think I'll stop it here until next week unless my muse drives me mad.

Song: 'Ave María' by David Bisbal (Wait a sec! This one is not in Japanese! I still love it. Ha!)

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**Ch. 5: Dianeia**

Bright green eyes opened in a very dark space. What was that place? Why was he naked? Where were his glasses/goggles? Why was he so cold? It was too cold. He started to breathe rapidly and could see mist coming from his mouth, a feeling of dread all over him. Dementors? He looked around, but couldn't see anything except cold mist and darkness. He stood up and started to walk feeling like he was walking on the same spot. His chest hurt quite badly and he clutched at it, but made an effort to keep on walking suddenly hugging himself because of the coldness. He shivered all over thinking that he would freeze to death, but something caught his eye. There was a floating figure approaching him and his breathing became uneven and difficult. He trembled all over as he saw that the figure was that of a skeleton. Even when the skeleton was wearing a long gray gown and had long gray hair it was still a skeleton. He could see the skeletal and bony hands and feet in the floating female skeleton. It spoke to him: "I will now bond with you."

Harry shook his head in fear: "I don't want to bond with you."

"You need me. You will have to bond with me whether you want to or not. My name is Lamorte and I will dwell inside you until the day comes when I will join with the others."

Realization struck the teen all of a sudden. "Are you a summon?"

Harry could see the skull's teeth seem to smile eerily and the phantom transformed into a gray diamond shaped fragment that flew into him. He gasped as the coldness enveloped his whole body and fell backwards closing his eyes. Perhaps he was going to die, but no. He opened his eyes again, dressed in school robes this time. He was on a flower bed and quickly got up to find himself in front of a mirror, but the image looking back at him was not his. It was Al. "Who are you?", asked the boy in the mirror.

"My name is Harry James Potter. Who are you?"

"Name's Al, just Al. Are you from the future?"

"Yes, I am."

"Maybe you've met me if I'm alive. You wear a Hogwarts uniform."

"Maybe... There's something about you that is terribly familiar, but I cannot picture..." Harry's eyes opened in surprise: "Is your name Albus?"

The boy in the mirror smiled, but the smile faded all of a sudden and everything changed. Harry found himself looking into the past. He could see Al fighting fiends along with several teammates, but the scenery changed again. He saw Al kneeling on the floor with tears running down his face as he looked at someone, a brown haired man dressed with what seemed like a red trenchcoat. "I TRUSTED YOU YORAK! I TRUSTED YOU! WHY?"

The man gave Al a cold glare. "You will die now. Marina will never be rescued." The man pointed at Al's heart with a crossbow, but just then two figures defended Al. The two figures went against the man named Yorak, but some fiends and other men joined the one in red. Yorak killed one of the figures, but the other managed to wound the traitor before being crushed by the fiends.

Al got up summoning his whip while yelling: "KARA! THIAGUS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Harry figured that Al must have been calling the names of the two that had just died, but the scene disappeared and he was again finding it difficult to breathe. He suddenly took a deep breath trying to recover from the difficulty and heard a soft female voice speaking: "Wake up... You have to come back now... Wake up, boy..."

His eyes fluttered open and he coughed trying to incorporate himself by getting into a sitting position, but soft hands held him. "Not so fast. You are still weak. Lie down." He kept coughing and tried to focus, but couldn't see well.

"Where are my glasses? Who are you?" Right then he noticed he was covered in blankets and as some dropped from his body he was able to notice that something else was missing, making him feel extremely vulnerable. "Where are my clothes and my sword? My cuffs?"

"Calm down. I got them clean for you. Your sword and cuffs are safe. Here are your glasses." He put the goggles on and rearranged them to see well and focused on the girl. She spoke again: "For a minute I thought you would leave this world. I had to help you breathe because you had stopped breathing all of a sudden." Harry touched his lips in understanding and turned beet red.

"You... You helped me breathe?"

She gave him a half smile. "Yes, and it worked. I'm glad you're awake."

Harry could see the girl clearly and was shocked when he identified the long purple dress and the extremely long bright white hair that was shiny like a diamond, except that the hair now had a long purple cloth covering the forehead and front part of the young woman's head. That cloth wasn't there the first time he saw her behind the gorgons. "Are you a gorgon?" His voice trembled to his horror and he tried to compose himself.

The girl blinked before giving a nervous laugh. "Goodness, no! Not a gorgon!" She laughed a little and covered her mouth.

"Are you human?" The laugh became very nervous at that question and the girl answered differently than what he would have expected: "I am a mage. That's all you need to know for now. I know that you are not from this world."

"How did you figure that out?"

"I saw you arrive at this world. I've been following you since Samiria took you."

Harry was confused. "But you haven't been the person saving us, right?"

The young woman shook her head. "I only saved you from the gorgons. I don't know who the other one is. I've seen him. He is... Never mind."

Harry noticed a fire burning plus the fact that it was dark, but he suddenly realized that he was alone with the girl. "Where are my friends?"

"They're fine. They're in a village close by hidden in an Inn. I payed for their stay, but I wanted to speak with you alone so kept you away. You seem like the most powerful one and their leader."

"I am no leader," he said lowering his head. "I am not very powerful either. You just saw how long we lasted against those gorgons."

"You are just inexperienced. That's all. Plus the fact that there were indeed too many of them..."

"How did you save us anyway?", asked Harry bewildered all of a sudden.

The girl's gaze dropped as she knelt and fumbled with her skirt. "I cannot tell you that, not yet. I am a mage."

Harry was starting to think that the girl was very strange, but she was also very beautiful. He could see that she had pink eyes and her skin was too white for a human. There was also something strange about her gaze and her extremely long hair. How could she manage with such long hair? What was she hiding under the scarf around her head? "What is under your headband? I can sense something underneath it."

The girl laughed nervously again. "It's a gem. Do you want to see it?" Harry nodded and she removed the scarf. She had a star shaped shiny pink gem just before her forehead. "It's my power source, that's why I hide it." She wrapped the scarf again, but Harry definitely had no idea of what the girl could be. He was wondering if she was a vampire too due to her pale skin, but he remembered that Janryu's skin wasn't really pale. "My name is Dianeia. What's your name?"

"Harry. I'm seventeen years old."

The girl looked surprised. "Seventeen? I thought you were a bit younger, although..." She laughed nervously again before stating. "Your body is fully developed..." Harry blushed furiously, but she quickly changed the topic: "I'm twenty-two years old." She stood up and looked for his clothes and brought them. "They're dry now."

Harry quickly took his clothes and was slapped with their fruity smell. He raised an eyebrow at this, but shook his head and started to get dressed. Dianeia turned around. "I'm done," he said suddenly and she turned to look at him and smiled, causing him to smile back. For some reason Dianeia made him nervous. He found himself gazing at her, studying her. She was truly beautiful although it did seem like she was hiding something. That little nervous laugh of hers worried him, but he was still feeling terribly attracted to her. It was an attraction far stronger than what he had felt towards Cho Chang. He didn't even want to remember that one... There was also the fact about Dianeia helping him breathe. He felt himself embarrassed and blushing as he thought about her lips on his. What was wrong with him? She was older than him! He decided to come back to reality. "Are we going to the Inn?"

"Sure! Come!" With a hand movement she made the fire disappear. He took his cuffs and put them on, then he took his scabbard along with his sword. The girl grabbed a rod with a diamond that was the same brilliant pink as the gem star on her head and they both started their walk. They had only walked for a few minutes when they encountered two creatures. They were snakes that reminded Harry of Nagini. With her rod Dianeia created a white light that made the two snakes vanish as if absorbed into something.

"What did you just do?"

"I... I simply used a vacuum of holy magic."

"Holy magic?" With that Harry had a clue. The girl couldn't be a dark creature, but a light one if she wasn't completely human as he suspected. "Was that vacuum the same magic you used against the gorgons?" The girl laughed nervously and didn't answer. That little laugh of hers was getting on his nerves.

Harry and Dianeia had two more encounters before encountering a high level fiend. It looked like a tyrannosaurus rex to Harry's horror and he could notice that Dianeia didn't look as sure as she had been with the other monsters. In fact, she seemed almost frightened when she started to chant. The monster sent some strange waves from its opened mouth and Dianeia extended her arms with her rod forming a shield similar to the one Luna had created against the gorgons, but this one repelled magic. Harry quickly understood that the one Luna had created only repelled physical objects or attacks like the arrows, but didn't stand a chance against magic. This new shield in front of him was the opposite. The monster produced spines on its body that went against them, but Harry on instinct created a physical shield by waving his sword in the form of a pentagon. All of the spines bounced on the transparent pentagon shield in front of them. After this Harry went againt the monster with his sword, but its body was too strong and the sword wouldn't even scratch it. He leapt back and Dianeia tried some lightning magic rising her rod, but it didn't even tickle the monster. "It is too strong against both physical and magical attacks!" the girl exclaimed before removing her magical barrier.

Harry started to chant and called: "Lamorte, please aid us!" At that same moment the monster sent some strange waves from its mouth against Dianeia and she screamed as the waves lifted her into the air. Her eyes were glowing in an odd manner and for a second Harry feared she would transform into something, but his summon rose into the air from inside him. Everything went cold with the angel of death. The skeleton woman with flowing gray hair opened her mouth as she sang a song that made Harry get goose bumps and fall on his knees. He saw the monster's eyes go completely white and it fell to the ground dead, making everything tremble and trees fall. After a few seconds the monster turned into nothingness, the summon got back into Harry's body, and he quickly checked on Dianeia. She was convulsing and moaning in a strange language. He could also feel something trying to sprout from her back. "Dianeia! What's wrong?" He searched in his sack for some potions and started to check the ones he had until he found one with a label that read 'Remedy'. "Well, I do hope you are a remedy for everything..." after saying this as if speaking to the bottle he poured the potion into the girl's mouth and she swallowed it. After half a minute the convulsions stopped and she only looked unconscious, but opened her eyes. The pink eyes were not glowing anymore and he let out a breath of relief.

"Thank you", she stated timidly. "I almost... Never mind." She laughed nervously and Harry rolled his eyes. "Let's go to the village, alright?"

"Why don't you just trust me and tell me what you really are?"

The girl was taken aback and looked scared. "I'm human! I... I can't..."

Harry decided that he didn't want to push her either. "Alright. Let's just go to the Inn."

She smiled in a childlike way and they proceeded toward the village and entered it, heading quickly for the Inn. Harry entered the Inn and was surprised to quickly see his friends. Janryu got up from a chair and exclaimed: "About time! Where the hell were you?"

Neville approached Harry with Luna by his side. "We were extremely worried. We woke up in this place and the owner told us to simply wait. It was awful while we waited. Those creatures came here and the owner hid us in a secret basement. I even thought that perhaps they had captured you, Harry."

"It would have been bad if you had gotten yourself captured as you are our leader..." added Luna with dreamy eyes.

Harry shook his head: "I am not your leader! I am just... Harry. If something happens to me you are to continue the journey until the end. Is that clear?" Neville nodded, Janryu didn't seem to care, and Luna simply blinked and started her scanner and pointed it at Dianeia. It was unreadable.

Neville did the same with his and it only beeped an alert showing the words: 'light creature.' Janryu, who hadn't even glanced at the girl, read the result in Neville's scanner and jumped back with his fangs out. His hair looked electrified and rose like a cat's as he growled. His dark violet eyes were glowing. "What's wrong with you?", asked Neville.

Dianeia laughed. "He's a vampire! I had a feeling he wasn't human, but didn't have time to confirm. Don't worry, I won't eat you or anything like that."

Harry was confused: "Why does he act like that?"

Dianeia sighed before sitting on a chair. "Because dark and light creatures usually repel each other, but if one of the creatures accepts the other nothing happens. I already carried him here and it didn't kill him so no harm done."

Janryu got back to normal and approached the girl. He started to sniff her and raised an eyebrow. "How the hell did you carry all of us?" Harry already knew how that question would be answered and flinched as he heard the nervous little laugh yet again.

"Stop that laugh! It's getting on my nerves!"

"Sorry..." The girl lowered her eyes, but then locked them with Janryu's. "It's a secret." She smiled at the vampire and he kept sniffing her again, but shook his head unable to figure what she was. Maybe if he had been a werewolf...

They dined at the Inn and that night before going to sleep Harry explained to Neville and Luna how a summon had come to him while he was unconscious. They were very surprised by that, which was something Harry had expected. He decided to hide his discovery about Al and the visions of the past he had though. He thought that maybe he could tell them later on.

In the morning they had a quick breakfast and left the Inn. Harry noticed that Dianeia stayed with them, but he wasn't complaining or telling her to leave. In fact he liked the idea of her being with them. He felt too attracted to her, although at the same time thinking that if he really fell for her she would never accept him because of his age. Rejection was something he always felt from the Dursleys and he didn't think he would be able to handle rejection from someone like Dianeia.

Harry used his scanner, but noticed that the next fragment was very far away and it seemed that they had to cross a sea. They finally arrived at a dock that connected to the village. There was a huge ship there. "We'll have to board this ship. The other fragment is in another land..."

The others nodded and they paid for their trip before boarding, but as soon as they were on the ship Harry could feel the stares. Many people were staring at them, some with surprised gazes, some with frowns, and others wore smirks. The last seemed to bother Harry the most and he thought that for a next time they should seriously consider wearing hooded cloaks. He was especially wary about a man that kept smirking at him. The man looked like a merchant, but Harry suspected that maybe that man traded other goods that might include children.

Janryu suddenly left them saying that he was going to be in the kitchens getting blood from whatever animals the cook had there to be cooked. Neville went to a corner with Luna apparently trying to involve her in something that he was describing. Harry smiled as he saw the other boy gesticulating with his hands while he spoke to Luna. It was obvious that Neville fancied Luna and the girl actually made a nice audience. Dianeia kept looking at the sea with a sad expression and Harry joined her. "Sad memory?"

She nodded and kept looking at the ripples that formed on the water and the fish that jumped. "Something that happened some time ago. The dark lord has hunted my kind. That's why I cannot change to my other form, ever. I have to avoid it at all costs. You see, I do have two forms, but I don't want anyone to know."

"Are you the last of your kind?"

She shook her head. "He doesn't kill us. He wants our magic. Something similar to what happens to the children, but he enslaves my kind with spells that make us serve him, like hypnosis. He has my little brother, Nhuriel. He is only twelve years old, but I hope that he hasn't been discovered. When he was captured he was taken as just another child. I hope it has remained that way. My parents are in hiding like the rest, but I couldn't remain hidden not doing nothing. That's why I decided to venture to get my brother back. That same day I saw you arrive and hid. When I learned that you were going against the dark lord I started to follow you. Now you know the real reason behind it all."

"Do you have any idea of who the guy that is also following us might be by any chance? Is he of your kind?"

Dianeia was in deep thought for some minutes before finally answering: "I have no idea who he is, but he is not of my kind. To tell you the truth..." She shook her head.

"Please, tell me."

"Well, he fits the description of someone that died in the battle of one hundred and forty years ago. I don't know if he is a ghost or someone revived. He seemed to appear ever since you got to this world. I found him right after the woman named Samiria took you to her house. He was in deep sleep and I tried to wake him, but he wasn't even breathing. Suddenly he opened his eyes and stared at me before jumping to his feet and telling me: 'The time has come.' He left after that and has kept following you, I think."

"Did the person that died so long ago had a name?"

"Yes! The name registered in history books is Tenshi."

Harry frowned as the name wasn't one of those he had heard in his vision of the past. "Did he die protecting Al?"

"Yes, but I do not know how it happened. No one knows. The only thing I remember reading is that Al had eight companions. He was left with half of them when he won over the emperor. One betrayed him and died in the end along with three more that include the man we speak of." She started to laugh all of a sudden. "Of course, I still think it's impossible for that guy to be Tenshi! It wouldn't make sense, would it?"

The ship started to tremble all of a sudden and Janryu came running from a staircase and stared at Harry. "A fiend! Powerful one!"

In less than a minute the group joined together in the front part of the ship and from the water emerged a monster that looked like a giant eel. To Harry's relief it wasn't of the electric kind, but it seemed to be made out of water, which wasn't good either. He quickly tossed a fire ball at it that was easily extinguished by the monster. It retaliated by throwing a water splash that Harry dodged. The water melted part of the woodened floor and Harry realized that it was like acid. Neville knew that shooting at a monster made out of water was no good so he used a lightning bolt on it. It seemed to infuriate the monster and a tentacle came out of its body and hit Neville squarely on the chest making the boy fly backwards and crash against a pole. He wasn't unconscious, but couldn't get up when he tried. The hit had a paralyzing effect. In seconds the monster also attacked Janryu, but the vampire boy dodged not knowing how to attack the water creature. Dianeia summoned a lightning bolt stronger than Neville's from her rod that hit the monster, but again it went berserk and hit her too making her fall paralyzed like Neville. Harry could see that Luna was chanting and she called: "Bijon!" From inside her came a giant eagle that reminded him of Ravenclaw's symbol. The eagle was dark blue and radiated with lightning. The girl raised her right hand in a signal and the summoned bird flew over the monster, who tried to attack it in vain. Bijon created an electric net that fell over the water eel and the eel was electrocuted until it fell to the sea as just plain water. Bijon then entered Luna's chest and she looked at Harry and smiled. The people on the ship stared at them in shock and Harry could notice the merchant smirking yet again. Oh, how he wanted to erase that smirk from that man's face.

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**_Please leave a review. Thanks!_**


	6. The Green Land

Author's Notes: Got the dismemberment curse from my beta (beta for some of my fics, but not this one), **Menecarkawan**. Hehehe!

Song: 'Taisetsu na Mono' by Road of Major

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**Ch. 6: The Green Land**

After the fight most of the people in the ship were thankful to the young rescuers and the smirking merchant finally approached Harry. The teen was glaring at the man, but the man didn't seem to care. He suddenly opened the bag he had with him and showed them several things, weapons, items, and orbs. He had bronze cuffs, a bronze sword that was similar to Harry's partially woodened one, he had guns made out of bronze, a bronze staff that could replace Luna's woodened one, and he also had many potions between other things. "I am a vendor", he said. I've been observing you and I believe that what I have to offer might be to your liking." Harry was wary of the man, but he also felt that the sword the man wanted to sell to him was somehow calling him. "I can buy your old weapons if you decide to buy new ones." Neville seemed thrilled looking at two bronze guns and bronze covered leather knuckles that looked comfy enough. Harry closed his eyes over the weapons and concentrated looking for traps or curses on them, but found nothing. "Will you buy then?" Harry nodded and they ended up replacing all of their old things by bronze ones. They also stocked a bit more on potions and the man showed them orbs. "I can sell you these together for one special price. Only five hundred raillens." They had to unite money from their sacks, but paid the amount and little by little the orbs distributed themselves between Harry, Neville, and Luna. Harry was happy to realize that now he would be able to heal himself instead of always depending on Luna, but he had a feeling that Luna still had the greatest healing magic. "It was a pleasure doing business with you", said the vendor with a smirk. Harry had a feeling the guy wasn't really a nice man, but meant business when he approached them.

They spent a complete week on the ship before finally getting to land. It was the greenest land Harry had ever seen as if it was in an eternal spring, but very warm. They got off the ship and started their journey. Harry automatically used his scanner and was able to see that in that land there were two fragments, but both were quite distanced one from the other. He suddenly thought about Apparating and something snapped in his mind and he turned to Dianeia. "How were you able to follow us when we Disapparated and Apparated close to the village where the mine was?"

"When you what?" The girl was confused, but she suddenly smiled. "Oh! You mean when you teletransported yourself? Well, you did say out loud where you were heading..." She laughed. "I also teletransported myself."

Harry was satisfied with the answer. Maybe he was being too suspicious, but he was starting to think that he was overreacting. Still, the image of Al crying when he found out he had been betrayed haunted him.

The young group kept walking and just when they were agreeing on Disapparating to shorten their way Dianeia gasped. On top of a hill was a man that could be in his late twenties. The man had extremely pale skin like Dianeia and shiny white hair that also fell to his knees. He had a wide dark green bandanna covering part of his head and wore dark green loose pants and a long green tunic that fell down to his thighs. He had a golden cloth around his waist and was glaring at Dianeia. The girl suddenly whispered: "Older brother..."

"WHY ARE YOU TRAVELING WITH HUMANS, DIANEIA?"

The girl didn't yell, but spoke high enough to be heard by the man. "They can help. Their mission is to save the children, Zheylks!"

"THEY ARE HUMANS!" The man looked at Janryu with disgust. "AND A VAMPIRE? YOU ARE ALSO WITH A VAMPIRE? YOU DISHONOR OUR KIND BY DOING THAT! OUR PEOPLE WOULD BE ASHAMED!"

"So be it! I will rescue Nhuriel with whoever I want! I'm not a child, Zheylks!"

The man suddenly had enormous wings on his back and flew towards them. He hid his wings and grabbed Dianeia by her arm. "You will come with me. I will return you to our parents. You won't be risking your life. I will be the one to rescue Nhuriel."

"No! I will not hide and do nothing! You cannot control my life, Zheylks! You know this!"

The man freed the girl's arm and stared at her. "Why do you do this, Dianeia? What would our parents say if they saw you around humans?"

"They're not just any humans! They're the chosen ones! They came from the other world, just like the boy from one hundred and forty years ago!"

Zheylks stared at the youngsters and that was when he realized something else. "They're children! Dianeia! You will end up having to protect them! They're only human cubs!"

"Al was fourteen, Zheylks! Please!"

"Do they know?" Dianeia shook her head. "Then it should remain that way, is that clear?"

"Unless there's an emergency," she stated. Her older brother glared at her and closed his hands in fists. "I'm sorry, Zheylks. I trust them."

"Then don't let the enemy find out. Hope you are right about them." The man sprouted wings again and flew away from them, disappearing behind the hills.

"He didn't seem too happy," said Neville matter of factly.

Luna had dreamy eyes: "He is very handsome." She looked at Dianeia and the girl smiled a little.

Harry was silent. For some reason Dianeia's situation reminded him a lot of Firenze. He thought that he might have a clue about Dianeia's other form. He also had a new clue, which was the fact of Zheylks having wings. "Do you also have wings Dianeia?"

She nodded. "I was hiding that, but it seems my brother isn't too worried about that detail..."

"Im hungry," said Janryu all of a sudden and they all stared at him incredulously. He looked at them. "What?"

XxXxX

The young group didn't Disapparate, but proceeded through the plains encountering several fiends that Harry destroyed all by himself wielding huge amounts of magic. He was kind of showing off because of a certain female that he had started to like, although he wouldn't admit it. They ended up in front of an area that seemed like an oasis even if it wasn't in the middle of a desert. It had a crystalline lake that glowed and was surrounded by palm trees and other fruit bearing trees. Janryu quickly climbed trees and started to collect fruits. Dianeia seemed worried: "Are you sure you can take those fruits, vampire boy? This place might belong to someone..."

"Name's Janryu and this place is in the middle of nowhere! These fruits will fall and spoil. That would be a shame so we can simply take some with us, light girl!"

Dianeia rolled her eyes and looked at Harry. "Just let him take them. I don't feel any presences other than the creatures that live in the lake," Harry told her.

Harry looked carefully at the oasis and frowned as he checked his scanner for a last time to confirm what he had found. "Luna, Neville! We will have to go under water. The fragment is inside the lake."

Janryu climbed down and looked frightened. "I can't swim."

Harry nodded at the statement and turned to Dianeia. "What about you?"

"I can swim, but I'm no good under water. I'm better swimming above it."

"Okay, you two will wait for us then." Harry created a bubble over his head and Neville and Luna imitated him performing bubble charms on themselves.

Luna's eyes reflected excitement. "I wonder what kind of creatures we will see under the lake. Maybe we'll see Aquavirius Maggots in there!"

Harry controlled an urge to laugh and Neville grinned. The threesome got in the water and finally submerged. Under the water, so far they could see fish of different colours, but as they swam deeper they noticed a fish species that were like zombie fish. They were literally skeleton fish swimming as if they were alive. Luna pointed at them and stated in a teaching like way: "Those are undead fish. They only live in magical lakes which are not very common. I always knew I would see one someday. Father will be so happy when I tell him. I wish I had a camera."

Harry was quite surprised with what Luna was saying and laughed a little before conjuring a waterproof magical camera and taking some pictures. Luna smiled at him, but her eyes went suddenly wide with excitement. "Look! They are here! Aquavirius Maggots!" In fact there were blob looking larval like creatures floating below them. The creatures seemed to grow in numbers as they swam further. They reminded Harry a little about the brains they had seen in the Ministry of Magic and he took pictures of them too, looking slightly taken aback by the apparent reality of Luna's imaginary creatures in fact existing in that world.

A sudden glow almost blinded them as it clashed with the bubbles that allowed them to breathe and even speak. "It's the fragment! We're very close!" explained Harry. They quickened their swimming and finally saw a bright blue fragment spiralling in front of them. Harry vanished the camera.

As if hypnotized Luna was the only one to extend her arm towards the diamond shaped crystal and it approached her as if Luna's hand was a magnet. The crystal took the form of a beautiful blue girl that seemed made out of water with blue robes that cascaded in a watery effect. The blue colour was almost transparent and the three teens could figure that in reality the summon was probably transparent, just like water. The water girl spoke: "I have been waiting. I am Undine, the water spirit. I will be part of you and aid you until the time comes." With that she turned back into a fragment and entered Luna's chest.

Harry pointed upwards and they started to swim when a tentacle grabbed Luna and pulled her downwards. Neville and Harry started to pull the girl's arms as more thin tentacles sprouted from below, trying to grab them. Luna suddenly said: "I can use Bijon against it!"

Harry shook his head: "Are you insane? If you use great lightning power here you will fry us all along with the creature!"

Luna nodded in understanding, but one of the tentacles grew a fine needle and inserted it in Luna's back. The girl gasped and went limp. Neville reacted: "It's a giant jellyfish!"

The-Boy-Who-Lived tried to think fast as more tentacles were coming against them, producing needles. Using a sword would be useless as maneuvering it under water would be extremely slow. Neville tried his guns, but they didn't work under water so he concentrated mass energy into his knuckles and gave an electroshock to the tentacle that held Luna. Unfortunately the bolt shocked the unconscious Luna too, but he hadn't made it too strong. The tentacle freed Luna, which was exactly Neville's goal.

"Good!" said Harry as he moved against the creature. "Take Luna to the surface!" Neville nodded and with Luna in arms started to swim upwards as fast as he could. The jellyfish moved tentacles against the fleeing prey that was taking yet another prey, but Harry gave them electroshocks following Neville's example. He kept using electroshocks, trying to escape, but tentacles started to pull him downwards as they grabbed his legs. Harry's face went red with anger just when several tentacles had sprouted needles to get him. "_Discerpere!" _The dismemberment curse caused all of the tentacles to be ripped from the creature and Harry was free to swim upwards not wanting to see more of what he had done to the monster. He didn't want to have a stomach reaction like the one he had when he decapitated the gorgon.

Harry emerged from the waters and could see that Neville was still trying to make Luna react, while Dianeia was performing different curative spells with her hands glowing above the girl's body without accomplishing anything. She looked at Harry with a frightened gaze. "None of the healing spells I try help. Neville also tried pouring healing potions through her mouth with no results."

The teen that had just come out of the water made the bubble from his head disappear and used a drying spell on his body and clothes that didn't completely dry him, but at least he wasn't dripping water all over the place. He approached Luna's unconscious form and turned her body to lie on its tummy rather than the back. Using magic he scanned her back and could feel the neutralized poison pulsating inside Luna's body. It had been neutralized by the potions and healing spells that Neville and Dianeia had tried, but it was still there, inside Luna's body. "I think we have to remove the poison even if it's no longer dangerous. It has her paralyzed." He carefully made an incision in Luna's clothes and ripped it open to see the area where the needle had entered. He placed his hand on Luna's back and closed his eyes, invoking his magic, and started to extract the liquid that was trapped in the dirty blonde girl's body, but got exhausted right when the liquid had almost been removed. Harry was panting and feeling faint.

Dianeia grabbed the teen and shook her head. "You're too tired. If you keep using your magic like this you'll fall into a coma. You've used too much magic in a row without rest." Harry tried to straighten himself to continue, but Dianeia grabbed him with a force that amazed him. She grabbed his face with both of her hands and produced a white sphere that came out of her mouth and entered his. He took a deep breath as the sphere entered him and immediately felt re-energized, but at the same time it made him terribly sleepy and he went limp on the young woman's arms. She placed Harry's head on her lap and turned to Janryu, who was looking at them in silence. "Janryu, you finish it."

"I can't! I'm allergic to human blood!"

Dianeia laughed. "You won't have to drink it, but you can easily extract the liquid and spit it. Harry already brought it almost to the surface, or are you a good for nothing?"

Janryu glared at the woman and kneeled in front of Luna's body. He prepared his fangs and lowered his head on Luna's back, slightly piercing the back's skin. In a vacuum effect the neutralized poison came out. It looked like transparent gel. Neville made it vanish with a movement of his hand and thanked Janryu, who was spitting all over the ground and even submerged his head in the water to gurgle. The young vampire removed his head from the water and looked at Neville, violet eyes looking dull. "No problem, but I do hope you guys avoid getting hurt in ways that might need me to take your blood. I don't plan dying by helping you!"

Neville turned Luna's body around and the girl opened her protuberant eyes and smiled faintly before asking: "What happened?"

"You were stung by the jellyfish, but you're alright now, Luna. Can you sit?" Luna incorporated her body getting into a sitting position. "I'm going to fix your clothes so stay still." With a quick hand movement Neville mended the broken clothing in Luna's back. The girl blinked looking at the boy with a curious, but tender gaze, then she looked at the sky dreamily. "Will Harry be alright?" Neville had turned to Dianeia and the young woman nodded with a smile, looking at the boy's sleeping face on her lap.

Their moment of tranquility didn't last long though. Janryu gasped and said: "We have to get out of here! They're here!" But it was already too late. The group was surrounded in seconds by the black shadows that stole children.

Janryu jumped and got into an attacking stance with his fangs ready. The creatures were not human so he was sure that if he had to bite he would do it. Neville and Luna also readied themselves, and Dianeia softly placed Harry's head on the ground and prepared for the attack of the dark lord's servants.

The shadow men didn't want to hurt the 'children' so they were merely trying to grab Neville and Luna at the moment. Neville got three direct shots aimed at the head of the nearest shadow, but the abnormal head with three holes mended itself in a slimy way. Luna used her staff against three shadows, but it had no effect on them. Dianeia tried elemental magic like fire and lightning with no luck while Janryu threw several knives that like Neville's shots went through the shadows, but the bodies mended back. Dianeia then got an idea. She used ice magic and froze one of the shadow creatures, then with a beam from her rod broke the being into pieces. Janryu and Neville used the cue to do the same. Neville felt lucky that he had obtained ice magic in the ship. Luna couldn't manipulate ice magic yet, but she started breaking the already frozen shadow men with her bronze staff.

Neville spoke quickly to Janryu: "I thought you didn't have much magic!"

Janryu got back to back with Neville. "I'm still learning, but I've always been able to use the ice elemental magic for some reason." The vampire boy grinned as he turned another creature into a popsicle and Luna shattered it. The problem was the creatures kept coming and now they were pissed and started to attack them for real. They screamed making the youngsters cover their ears all of a sudden due to the piercing howling they emitted. The creatures then started to perform magic and paralyzed Neville. Luna tried to go against one, but another shadow being came from behind her and grabbed her by the waist and bound her with ropes. Janryu started to attack physically with his fangs, but two of the beings grabbed him, lowering him to the ground to bind him with ropes too while he roared like a beast.

Dianeia was still freezing shadow men and shattering them, but they kept coming and coming almost as if everytime she shattered one, four more appeared for the one that had been destroyed. She then created the vacuum of holy magic with her rod, something she wanted to avoid as it absorbed too much power and she had just passed some of her power to Harry to accelerate his magical recovery. The vacuum started to absorb plenty of shadow men, but she couldn't hold it for long. She closed it and fell on her knees, weakened. She thought that was the end and her young friends would be taken as morsels to supply the dark lord's magic, but just then the mysterious rescuer appeared.

The mysterious man created bolts of white light that started to vaporize the dark beings although they kept appearing. He freed Luna and Janryu from their binds and captors, then looked at Dianeia. "We have to destroy them at the same time or they'll just keep multiplying. You will have to transform and create a holy magic wave." The young woman shook her head. "You have to if you want to save them! NOW!" The girl obeyed and there was a huge flash of light as she removed the scarf from her head. A big creature that Neville, Luna, and Janryu weren't able to decipher due to its whiteness appeared and created an enormous wave of white light that completely evaporated the shadow men. It was very quick and in seconds Dianeia was in human form, panting as she wrapped her headband. "Well done," the strange man praised her. "I will escort you out of here. They already know this location." The man moved his staff around Neville removing the paralysis and with ease lifted Harry in his arms. The rest followed the man silently.

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Thank you to dark672 and lovenotknown for your reviews. lovenotknown, thanks for complimenting my English although sometimes I send sentences to my beta to make sure it's alright! lol But in this story I'm doing almost completely on my own, except for the ocassional doubt. From this chapter I only had to verify a word with my beta, only one! Yaii!

Keep those reviews coming!

_**Please Review. Reviews are a great motivation. I'll appreciate it. Thanks. **_


	7. The Shape Changer

Author's Notes: This chapter came out a bit short... Sorry about that! Well, some chapters will be shorter and some will be longer.

Song: 'Gem Stone' by Under 17 and Funta (from Popotan -- I can't believe I've been listening to Funta while writing this. I must be going mad!)

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**Ch. 7: The Shape Changer**

The mystery man escorted the adventurers beyond mountains and valleys. They had walked for hours, but all their questions went unanswered, especially Janryu's. He seemed to be the one asking the most questions and wouldn't give up even when the white guy seemed to ignore him.

"Hey, come on! So you don't want to tell us who you are, where you are from, your age, your status as a magical being, anything! Huh? Are you even listening to me? You should at least tell us your name, you geek!"

The man suddenly stopped and placed an almost waking Harry on the ground. "You'll rest here. It's close to where the next fragment is."

Neville looked curiously at the man. "Do you have a scanner for the fragments too?"

The man's eyes locked with Neville's, almost frightening the boy as the eyes were golden. "I don't need one, magical human child. I will leave you. You will be safe here for now."

"Why don't you join us? You seem to be taking care of us from afar!"

"It is not the right time. I'm not strong enough yet."

Janryu gave an incredulous look: "Not strong enough? Who are you kidding?"

The man ignored the vampire and kept his eyes on Neville's. Luna then asked one of the questions Janryu had been asking gaining no response, with a very soft and dreamy voice: "What is your name?"

The man's eyes turned to Luna. "Angelus." With that the man suddenly disappeared in a flash. It almost seemed as if he had vanished, but it was due to him moving extremely fast.

Janryu was furious. "Why couldn't he answer my questions? He didn't answer to Dianeia's questions either! That guy is too weird!"

Dianeia thought for a few seconds and replied: "Maybe he only answers to the ones from the other world in a certain sense. At least that's my theory."

Harry looked at them confused. He had just seen the man in almost glittery white clothes leave after giving them his name. So the man's name was not Tenshi. That was partly a relief if that Tenshi had died in Al's last battle. Harry didn't want to deal with dead people coming back to life. He quickly got into a standing position and started to scan the place. The next fragment was indeed very close so they had to get on their way there. Something was still bothering him though. Why had Angelus reappeared? What had he missed? "Were we attacked? I can't help but notice that we are somewhere else. I saw that man leaving after he placed me on the ground. I did register that he had been carrying me, although I wonder how he could easily do that... He doesn't look that strong..." Harry saw the smiles and could figure that something had indeed happened while he was 'out.' They would probably tell him on their way to the fragment. "Well, let's go!"

"Shouldn't we eat something first?" asked Janryu. "I also want to hunt. I need blood."

Harry nodded. He was indeed rested, but the others weren't. Using fire magic he created a fire and assigned Luna and Dianeia to keep it burning while he went hunting with Neville and Janryu. They had supplies in their sacks, but as Janryu wanted to hunt they thought that perhaps they could also get some meat.

In the end Neville and Harry didn't hunt anything, but Janryu did. He was able to take blood from some animals and got them three bird like creatures that reminded Harry and Neville of cornish hens. After hunting Harry and Neville weren't sure if they would be able to handle eating the poor creatures, to which Janryu told them matter of factly: "They're already dead, you know?"

They arrived at their campsite and a feeling of dread washed over Harry. Dianeia and Luna weren't there. Janryu and Neville also reacted by leaping backwards. Just then Luna got to the area and stared at them. "Something the matter?" The boys shook their heads and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry we weren't here. It's just that we spotted some creatures." Luna's expression changed to sudden excitement. "I think they are Crumple-Horned Snorkacks!"

Harry and Neville looked at each other and both started to laugh uncontrollably, but Luna didn't seem annoyed at all. As a matter of fact, she smiled. Harry looked at her when he started to calm. "Where are they?"

They followed Luna to a hill and she somehow created an object that reminded Harry of omniculars and passed them to Harry pointing to an area. Dianeia was also there looking at the creatures with some special green glasses that Harry wondered where she got them from. "I've never seen those before," Dianeia spoke. "I wonder if they're edible as they look like young hogs, except for the fact that they have horns."

Harry looked with the imitation of omniculars and confirmed what Dianeia was saying. The creatures looked like piglets with spiral-like horns. Harry passed the omniculars to Neville and the boy gaped as he saw the creatures.

Janryu didn't need anything to magnify his sight. He could focus the creatures perfectly and muttered. "I wonder what they're blood tastes like. Should I hunt one?"

Luna freaked out. "You want to eat them?"

At that Dianeia looked at Luna. "If they're edible I can't see why not! I am normally a veggies being, but I handle meat in my human form." Harry laughed a little as Dianeia licked her lips. She was probably hungry too.

In seconds Janryu was crouching and disappeared from their side. With great agility he was skipping grounds at a very fast rate and was getting closer to the pig like creatures. If the snorkacks had indeed perceived the hunter they didn't show any signs of it. They kept grazing the pastures as they were. Janryu jumped out of his hiding spot and grabbed one of the creatures. The other snorkacks suddenly reacted, but instead of running away they suddenly grew up in size and opened big muzzles full of very sharp teeth. The muzzles were opened so big that Janryu would have fit inside one three times.

Harry, Neville, and Luna blanched as they saw the change in the creatures while to their horror Dianeia laughed. Janryu didn't seem intimidated either where he was. He simply bit the neck of the one he caught, made a gruesome gesture at the other snorkacks, and fled from the area. The snorkacks didn't even try chasing the vampire. They simply closed their horrendously giant mouths and returned to normal size to continue grazing. It made Harry think that maybe things like that were very common in that world. As Janryu approached them with the poor already dead animal hanging from his mouth by its neck Harry turned to Dianeia: "I thought they would try to eat Janryu. Those teeth looked scary enough!"

Dianeia laughed again and shook her head. "They only eat grass and hay probably. That was just a defensive mechanism to chase attackers away. Many leaf eating animals have mechanisms like that to protect themselves. I found it funny as it was so unexpected, but I should have suspected they would try to defend themselves somehow.

Neville looked disgusted at Janryu holding the dead snorkack in his mouth. "Please, remove that! You look like an odd animal yourself!"

Janryu removed the piglet looking creature from his mouth and his fangs hid. He grinned at Neville before saying: "Let's cook the food! Come on!" He noticed Luna's suffering expression at seeing the dead snorkack. "It's blood is alright so I've concluded they're edible. Why do you look at me like that?"

XxXxX

After they were full they started their journey to get the other summon fragment that was in that seemingly almost deserted land. They walked until they reached a certain point in the middle of a field and the scan stopped there. Harry had expected another cave, mine, or something like that. He certainly didn't expect the fragment to be underground.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Neville asked full of concern.

"It seems that the fragment is under this earth..."

Luna smiled. "Well, we certainly cannot dive under earth... Why don't we just use a summoning charm?"

Harry blinked and nodded. "That's actually a great idea! We can try it! At least in this case! Let's see... _Accio_ summon fragment?" Nothing happened. "Maybe it will only obey the correct person to own it."

Neville then muttered: "_Accio _summon fragment."

To their surprise the earth started to tremble and crack. They all had to jump to different sides when the earth started to open during the tremor, but just then an animal came out and they all looked at each other and then at the animal. The animal looked like a sort of rodent and had hair that was between gray and brown. It had black and white on its face that reminded of a panda in a certain way. It looked at them and then at Neville. Neville exclaimed with a twinkle in his eyes: "It's a badger!" The animal started to float in the air and turned into a brown fragment that entered the wizard that had just spoken. "That was easy, wasn't it?" Neville added, but he spoke too soon. There was a sudden earthquake and something else came from the crater that had previously formed.

The monster that rose seemed to be completely made of mud and started to throw mud balls at them. Janryu dodged with ease while Luna created a shield in front of her. Dianeia did the same as Luna. Harry inserted his sword into the monster, but the sword got stuck and the monster started to suck Harry into itself to the young wizard's horror. Harry's arms were already halfway inside the monster and he tried pulling back in vain. Neville shot at the monster with no effect and then tried a lightning bolt that shocked both the monster and Harry. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME, NEVILLE!" Harry yelled desperate.

Janryu was going to throw some knives, but reconsidered. Harry's arms were completely inside the monster by that point. Janryu tried to think fast, but didn't know what to do. Same happened with Neville and Dianeia. They were out of ideas. Luna started to chant at that moment behind her shield and Undine appeared above her. Harry's body was almost completely inside the monster and the summon that looked like a female made of water washed the mud monster making it melt little by little. In minutes the monster was gone and Harry dropped unconscious as he couldn't breathe for the time he was trapped.

Before returning to her master Undine washed Harry and then returned to Luna's body. Dianeia quickly started to revive the boy, but he wasn't breathing. "Not again! This leader of yours likes to stop breathing!"

"I don't think he does it on purpose..." said Neville and suddenly asked: "Wait a minute, has this happened before?"

Dianeia nodded and immediately started her respiratory session on Harry, which was something that made both Janryu and Neville blush madly. "Maybe I should stop breathing too," stated Janryu with an evil grin. Neville looked at the vampire incredulously.

Harry woke up with Dianeia's lips on him. She noticed it and quickly broke the connection as he started to cough. This time she was the one blushing and lowering her eyes to the ground. She rapidly asked. "Are you alright?"

Harry turned red and nodded. "Thanks." He lowered his eyes too not wanting his gaze to lock with hers. He touched his lips unconsciously and went redder. A tinge of excitement washed over his whole body and he wondered how it would be if he could kiss her for real. He shook his head to rid it of strange thoughts. They had to continue and their mission in that land was over. "We have to get to the port again..."

"The ships don't sail until the morning. We should find a village to stay in or camp somewhere," stated Janryu looking at the sky.

Dianeia stood up from her kneeling position. "Not camp. I have a bad feeling about these lands at night. We'll find a village." She raised her rod and concentrated with her eyes closed. "There's a village to the west and there's a port that can be reached in a thirty minute walk from the village. We'll go there, but it's far. Maybe we should teleport."

After calculating where they should Apparate to Harry picked up his sword. The group got together and Apparated to the village's entrance. They entered and as it had happened before they drew stares from the villagers. Some even fled to their houses mumbling the word 'children.' It almost seemed to Harry that to see children was like seeing ghosts. There were also women that started to cry and he figured that they were probably broken mothers that had lost their little ones.

At last they entered the Inn and the owner didn't even look at them. He simply charged for their stay and provided them with the keys to their rooms. Neville, Harry, and Janryu would be together in a room while Luna and Dianeia would be in another room.

The night passed without any complications and after having breakfast in the Inn they started their thirty minute walk. Halfway to the port Harry asked Dianeia: "How many lands do you have in this world. Are there many?"

Another voice repeated exactly the same questions in Harry's voice, making the group jump in alarm. "What was that?" Harry asked.

They all heard Harry's voice again asking: "What was that?" It was like a perfect echo.

"Who's doing that?"

"Who's doing that?"

"Cut it out!"

"Cut it out!"

Luna signaled with her finger at a point above Harry, making everyone look upwards. Floating above Harry was another Harry, grinning. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"You are not me!" exclaimed Harry angrily.

"I am not you!" The other Harry's wording had changed. The floating Harry changed to Janryu, then to Luna, then to Neville, then to Dianeia.

Dianeia laughed. "It's a shape-shifter!"

At that, the other Dianeia changed to a boy that landed between them. The boy had white blonde fluffy hair that almost seemed as if he had a light yellow cloud on his head for hair. His eyes were the same colour of his hair. The boy wore a silver tunic and silvery loose pants. His ears were slightly pointy. Harry could easily figure that the boy wasn't human. "What are you?"

"I'm of mixed blood. My mother is a fairy while my father is an elf."

"How do you float?" Neville asked curiously.

"I don't!" The boy giggled. "Many can miss my wings!" The boy sprouted wings that were transparent and almost like an insect's. They were obviously fairy wings. "My name's Soshlan! I'm almost sixteen years old! I've noticed you since yesterday and have been following you because you are children! You have avoided getting captured like myself, but I wonder how you manage that when you are all together! Wouldn't it be easier to hide if you go on separate ways?"

"We are not hiding," said Harry, surprising the boy. "We plan to stop the dark lord."

Soshlan paled. "Are you insane? No one can stop him!"

"Someone has to and in order to return to my world I have to stop him along with my friends."

"You're from the other world? Like the one in the history books?" Harry nodded. "Wow... What are your names?" They introduced themselves and Dianeia and Janryu did the same, but clarifying that they weren't from the other world. The elf-fairy looked amazed. "Can I go with you too? All of my friends have been captured. I've avoided being captured because when they come I simply take the form of an old man that I saw once. I can only take the form of someone or something I've seen before, but my friends didn't have my gift. I miss my friends..." At that the boy wore a very sad expression that seemed to make the clouds reunite above them as if about to rain on them. "So... Can I?"

"What about your parents?" asked Neville worried.

"I can't go back to them. I have to constantly change places to avoid getting caught. If I return to my people I will only become an easy target. My mother was the one who sent me away."

"Maybe he can help," said Luna dreamily while Harry went thoughtful.

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**Thanks to the reviewers!**

**yoYO: Grandmother paragraphs? Nah, I can't handle very long paragraphs for some reason... I guess it's for the better... About the mysterious man... Well, at least you got the name... Ahaha!**

**lovenotknown: You make me blush... Well, this fic has me with ideas, but at the same time it's a bit difficult write. I have a hard time looking for vocabulary, but I guess that makes it a bit challenging which is great!**

_**Please Review. Thanks!**_


	8. The Hidden Kingdom

Author's Notes: This is the beta-read version of this chapter finally up. Thanks to **Menecarkawan**!

Song: 'Disco Time' by move

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**Ch. 8: The Hidden Kingdom**

In the end Soshlan accompanied the group the remaining way to the port. Harry laughed silently during that time because of Luna's way of flirting with Neville, or at least to him it looked like flirting. Luna suddenly asked Neville: "What's the name of your new summon?"

Neville's eyes illuminated with happiness. "His name is Meles."

"He is very cute," said Luna dreamily.

Neville went thoughtful: "Well, I don't know much about that. Maybe..."

"Is he very powerful?" Luna asked interested.

"I don't know yet, but I'm sure he is!" Neville decided to add the last to impress her a little. It made Luna laugh. Dianeia was expressionless, Soshlan was grinning at Neville, and Janryu was rolling his eyes.

They arrived at the port and saw the ship ready to sail so they quickened their pace, paid the fee at the entrance, and finally boarded the ship. Harry finally asked again the question he had tried to ask Dianeia before: "How many lands do you have in this world? How many countries?"

"Not too many. At least the records state that this world is smaller than yours... Who knows? No one has ever been able to confirm it."

The ship started its sail at that point and Harry went to an area with Dianeia, Luna was with Neville while Soshlan and Janryu looked at each other and went to opposite sides. They had decided not to be together as one was light and the other dark. There were still prejudices and none of them knew how to get along with the other.

Harry turned red before asking a question that he had been dying to ask Dianeia. "How does this world take to mixed marriages?"

Dianeia looked at him curiously: "Well, it depends. We've met Soshlan who is obviously the result of a mixed marriage, but elves have always gotten along very well with fairies. In the case of my race, they don't allow them. Only once a young man rebelled because he wanted to marry an elf girl. He was expelled from our people and never seen again. I still don't know if the elf people accepted him, but maybe they did. The elf people have always been more open-minded. Still, I don't think any of the light races would allow a marriage with a dark creature, like for example a fairy with a vampire like Janryu... That would probably produce a chaotic result. I've never met anyone from a mixed marriage like that. I hope this answers your question."

"How about someone of your people with a human?"

Dianeia looked nervous all of a sudden. "They would never allow it. If I were to fall for a human the first to exile me would be my parents."

"How about age differences? How do they treat that aspect?"

Dianeia smiled: "There's no age in love. That is the concept in this world at least. Of course, you cannot marry a small child... Children are allowed to marry from age fifteen and up. I have a friend who is ten years older than her husband... I also know someone who is twenty years older than his wife." She laughed after saying that and then looked at Harry as if searching for something in his bespectacled eyes. "Why do you ask, Harry?"

Harry wasn't able to answer that question as he felt swords and spears being pointed at him. He quickly turned around and saw that his friends and companions had also been surrounded. A man opened a parchment and suddenly read aloud: "These children are now under the custody of King Vicfer for their own protection. It is the mission of our kingdom to protect the children that haven't fallen into the hands of the dark lord. The children will be transferred to our kingdom, which is hidden from the dark realm..."

Harry interrupted the messenger. "Wait a minute! You cannot take us against our will! We have a mission to complete!"

The messenger glanced at Harry. "Children don't go on missions. We have a capable army that is being trained to go against the dark lord's fiends. This is the first time a child has tried to stop us from guiding them to protection..."

"You don't understand! We came from another world and in order to return to our world we have to stop the dark lord and rescue the children!"

"I'm sorry, child. You can try and convince our king once we are in our land. I simply have orders to rescue all the children I can and take them to our king. You can request a hearing once we get to Franya," There was pity in the messenger's eyes.

"This is kidnapping! You are doing the same thing the dark lord is doing! I don't see the difference!" Harry had already been disarmed and was being held by three guards from the kingdom of Franya. His friends had also been disarmed, including Dianeia. Maybe they thought she was a child too because she still had a child like face at twenty-two. Harry was furious.

"There's a big difference, child! The dark lord drinks the children's energy! Our king doesn't do anything to the children! They are placed in mansions and have toys, clothes, food, everything! They also have parks to play! They are happy and not under sleeping spells! When there have been parents involved we've properly asked for their permission to protect their children! In your case you don't seem to have a guardian."

"Not in this world! I already told you I am not from this world!" But his words were ignored. They had already been taken into custody by those guards and soon were locked in a room in that ship. There were guards in front of the room in constant watch.

Harry stared at Dianeia questioningly and mildly angered: "Did you know about that kingdom?" She nodded with a lowered gaze. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought the chances of encountering them were odd. I was wrong, but something worries me. They seem to have been alerted by someone that there would be children on the ship."

"It could have been anyone..." said Neville.

Dianeia shook her head. "Humans wouldn't even bother. I have a feeling my older brother Zheylks is behind this. It's almost like they were expecting us to board the ship."

"I should have known there had to be someone trying to stop the dark lord in this world, but how come the dark lord hasn't attacked Franya?" Harry asked.

"Because the kingdom is hidden by magic," replied Soshlan. "The kingdom of Franya has always been hidden. That's why I can understand Dianeia in thinking that the chances of meeting guards from that realm were odd. They also depend a lot on creatures alerting them to where children are as they started the children protection laws some time after the dark lord started to kidnap them. They were already far behind... They are probably the only kingdom going against the dark lord in this world. I have to recognize that their king has guts."

"Are they taking vampire children too?" asked Janryu looking at Soshlan. The elf-fairy shrugged. "Because so far, well, I don't even know if the dark lord takes vampire children. I always thought he didn't, but I still hid whenever the shadow freaks came, plus I lived in some woods... I don't know many vampires because I've always been the adventurer type and ran away from home at fourteen."

"I do think they take all the children, Janryu," Dianeia stated expressionlessly without even looking at the vampire boy.

Soshlan looked hopeful: "Maybe I'll discover that at least one of my friends was taken by this king rather than by the evil one..."

The doors of the room opened and two men entered. One of them was Zheylks and the other man wore clothes similar to Zheylks', but he had bright and glittery scarlet hair that fell down to his mid back and red eyes. He also wore a bandanna. His clothes, instead of dark green like Zheylks, were dark brown.

Dianeia stood up and glared at the two men. "So you are behind this! Why?"

"It's for your own good little sis'," replied the red haired man. The redhead looked less serious than Zheylks. "We have to take you to our parents. It's the elder's order."

"I won't leave them and that's final!" Dianeia's usually pastel pink eyes had a dangerous gleam that made them shine like the gemstone hidden on her head. "I didn't know you needed help from Rhoggel, Zheylks. You should be ashamed!"

It was Zheylks' turn to glare. "I didn't need help from him or anybody. He came along by himself."

"So how many of my siblings are on this ship?" Dianeia asked furiously.

Rhoggel replied with a smile: "Me, Zheylks, and Dionaius."

Dianeia looked horrified. "Dionaius is here?" In answer to her question, another man entered the room. He had silver hair down to his waist and wore silver clothes and a silver bandanna that almost blended with his hair. His eyes were a blue-gray colour and he looked too silvery, reminding them of Angelus who looked too white. Dionaius also had runes encrypted on the back of his hands, his forehead, and cheeks. He was the one that looked the most like Dianeia, except for the visible dark blue triangular runes carved in his skin.

Harry had noticed Dianeia feeling uncomfortable at the sight of Dionaius even if that brother of hers looked younger than the other two. Harry already knew that Zheylks was the oldest, but why was she so intimidated by the silvery one?

Dionaius approached Dianeia and grabbed her hands, locking his eyes with hers. "You have to come with us. Please don't defy the elder, Dianeia. Please."

"Not even you will convince me, Dionaius! I'm not going back! Not until I can bring Nhuriel back with me!"

The younger of the brothers looked taken aback, but after having his gaze locked with hers for a while lowered his eyes in defeat. Zheylks wasn't going to give up that easily though, and approached the girl too and tried to grab her, but Harry interfered. "You should abide by what she says!"

"You cannot protect her, human child! Do not interfere!" Even Zheylks deep voice was intimidating, but Harry didn't care.

Harry started to glow and a magical wave pushed Zheylks away from him and Dianeia. Dionaius leapt back gracefully just before the wave could push him too. "You are powerful, human child, but I still don't think you can protect her," stated Zheylks.

Dionaius did something that alarmed his older brother then. He approached Harry. "Please protect my twin sister. I know you can, child from another world." He turned to Dianeia. "Be safe. There are ways to escape from Franya."

"DIONAIUS!" Zheylks was furious as he slapped his younger brother. "I knew I shouldn't have let you come! You let her do as she pleases!"

Rhoggel interfered at that point by grabbing his older brother's arm. He shook his head. "We will leave this room now. We can always avoid going back until she finally decides. That way the elder won't know."

The three brothers left the room and Dianeia looked miserable. Janryu suddenly surprised her by asking: "So how many brothers do you have anyway?"

Dianeia laughed a little. "I have seven brothers and three sisters."

Janryu blinked. "Whoa! So many?"

Soshlan was looking curiously at Dianeia and started to speak: "You are from the Leiflathren Valley, aren't you? You belong to the winged..." Soshlan wasn't able to finish his statement as Dianeia covered the boy's mouth and shook her head. She was amazed that the boy could know so much, but she didn't need everyone to find out, including the guards and possibly unwanted ears outside the room.

"Not here. Too many people." Soshlan nodded in understanding and muttered a 'sorry.' He then smiled at her. "Thanks," she added because the boy would keep quiet, then turned to Harry. She spoke in a very low voice: "If the king doesn't allow you to have a hearing with him or simply opposes letting us go we will escape. Dionaius will help."

Neville glanced at Dianeia: "How do you know he will help us escape?"

"I have ways of communicating with my twin that my other brothers cannot detect. We can speak telepathically without anyone hearing our telepathy, in this case, my other two brothers. I think it's because of the being twins bond. How do you think Dionaius suddenly knew that you were from another world?" The young woman winked at Neville.

That night they all slept together in that room, but everyone woke up to Soshlan's screams in the morning. Harry wondered what in the world was happening and quickly put his goggles in place to see Luna and Neville grabbing Janryu and separating him from a screaming Soshlan.

"YOU WERE TRYING TO BITE ME! I MEAN, YOU ACTUALLY BIT ME!" exclaimed the boy in horror as he noticed droplets of blood staining his clothes.

"I WAS JUST CURIOUS! I WASN'T GOING TO MAKE YOU A VAMPIRE! AS IF BEING BOTH ELF AND FAIRY WASN'T ENOUGH!"

"I DON'T LIKE YOUR CURIOSITY THEN! I DON'T WANT YOU CLOSE TO ME EVER AGAIN!"

"IT WAS JUST A TASTE YOU IDIOT! JUST LET ME CLOSE THE WOUND!"

"I DON'T WANT YOU NEAR ME, YOU FREAK!" At that, the boy started to cry and Dianeia quickly got by his side and rubbed his back. She couldn't heal the wound though. Only a vampire could heal that kind of wound.

"Just let him close the wound with his vampire magic. It will be alright, Soshlan." The boy nodded and Neville and Luna freed Janryu. Janryu approached Soshlan and got his fangs barely on Soshlan's neck making a strange liquid come from them. The liquid closed the wound and Janryu stepped back. Soshlan kept sobbing on Dianeia's chest this time, which was something that made Harry uncomfortable for some reason. "Hush, hush... You're fine, Soshlan."

"He's horrible! Now I will never be able to show my face to my parents, or the elves, or the fairies ever again because I was touched by a vampire! He violated me!"

Luna approached the sobbing boy and spoke in a soft voice. "That is just prejudice. It's true that he did wrong and he should have asked for your permission, but your people rejecting you just because he took a taste from your blood; it's unnerving and plain stupid. If they are like that, I would rather avoid them instead of Janryu. I'm just being honest."

Soshlan looked at Luna with disbelief and then at the rest of the faces in the room. "So you all think that what the vampire did was funny?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't approve of what Janryu did, but I don't approve of prejudice either. If you will not be able to get along then I won't have either of you with me."

Janryu looked hurt. "Hey! I have no problem by being with him... If I had a problem I wouldn't have approached him!"

Harry stared at Janryu. "Alright, but I don't want you trying to bite anyone else just because they are not human. You can always try asking for permission." Janryu looked pissed, but nodded. Harry turned to Soshlan. "What is your decision?"

The elf-fairy had stopped crying and lowered his gaze. "I'll get along with... that."

"Hey!" exclaimed Janryu, but Harry stopped him with a gesture and shook his head.

Some guards started to ask them what had happened through the door, but Harry told them everything was fine. Afterwards the guards told them that they would arrive at their destination in two days. At that moment, a person brought them breakfast.

XxXxX

Harry felt that the two days they waited were the longest he had ever had. They reminded him of the days he had spent locked in the cupboard under the stairs at the Dursleys, except that at least he had company in this case.

They had finally arrived at their destination and were escorted by many guards. Harry tried to check if Dianeia's brothers were with those guards, but he didn't see them. Dianeia was also looking around, in vain, as they walked. Soon they found themselves in front of a huge castle. Harry, Neville, and Luna wondered if that castle was bigger than Hogwarts because it sure looked like it. On their way there, they had seen that the kingdom was huge. Harry had memorized that it was between mountains, but one of the guards had lifted his hand in an area and made a chant. It had caused ripples and suddenly they went through an aqueous door and found themselves inside a huge kingdom. There were townspeople everywhere and many children played around. There were plenty of parks and by the amount of children there, Harry could figure that many weren't from that kingdom, but children that had been brought. They sure looked happy. There were also many teenagers that helped the smaller children play. Other teens were in couples, almost like they were on dates. Harry considered that at least the children that had been somewhat saved from the dark lord were alright, but as beautiful and appealing as the place seemed he couldn't stay there. He sighed as he thought about this.

The castle's doors opened and they entered. After walking for several minutes, they found themselves in what had to be the throne room, but there was no king sitting on the throne. Harry wondered if he would get his hearing or not, but at that same moment the messenger left them, apparently to fetch his ruler.

They waited for some time and the messenger came back with a child behind him. Harry and the others all looked at each other thinking if this was some kind of joke, but it seemed that it wasn't. The child couldn't be more than twelve and he sat on the throne. The child had dark skin and short black straight hair. His eyes looked almost Asian and the traits as a whole reminded Harry of Indians. The eyes were extremely dark, obsidian in colour, but with a sparkle. The boy was dressed in robes that were royal blue with golden rune like designs. He also had a cape that looked as if it had been woven with pure gold. He wore what looked like a golden ribbon in a bandanna fashion around his head instead of a crown. "My messenger tells me that you have something to say. You are allowed to speak."

Harry stepped forward and bowed courteously before speaking. "Your majesty, I believe that being brought here might be a mistake. You see, my friends and I..." He signaled Luna and Neville. "...came from another world by accident. We are supposed to defeat the dark lord that is imprisoning the children of this world. Only if we succeed in this task will our exit appear before us and we will be able to return to our own world. We cannot stay here."

The child was in deep thought and spoke: "Do you mean to say that you came from the other world? The one registered in history books?" Harry nodded full of hope. "I've read young Al's story many, many times. It was my favorite bedtime story since many years ago..." The child went thoughtful again and took a deep breath. "I understand your predicament, but the problem is that you are in danger of being captured too. It would have been better if you had been adults. Why would the fates play such an interesting game by making children come to this world again I do not understand. You will remain here until my army is ready to go against the dark lord. If I see that we are losing then you will be freed to try your luck, but in the meantime, you'll be safe here just like every other child. That is my decision."

At that, the guards moved to the group and started to escort them out of the castle. Harry knew that trying to say anything else would be in vain. Now he could only hope that they would be able to make their escape without too many problems.

The guards escorted them to a house and placed them together. There was food already served on a big table and it seemed to them that they were alone in that house. Harry wondered why they hadn't placed them with other children, but there was no time to start wondering that. They had to find a way to get out of there.

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	9. Living Together

**A bit of a warning**: There are implied mature topics in this chapter. I was careful enough to make those sexual details be simply implied so I hope no one is disturbed by that as this is 'T'. If you don't understand them, alright. That will mean that either I was extremely subtle or you are simply very innocent. 'evil laugh'

Author's Notes: I reworded this chapter a bit so some sentences from the original version I posted changed. I wasn't comfortable with the wording in a few parts.

Song: 'Love Again' by Globe (Vincent de Moor trance vocal mix)

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**Ch. 9: Living Together**

The group sat down to eat and their faces brightened a little as they saw the food was delicious. Dianeia ate, but every once in a while looked in the direction of a potted tree that was in the room. She could swear she had seen the tree move and perhaps they were not alone in that house as they had previously thought. She wondered if they had found another shape-shifter when Harry murmured: "Is it me or does that tree seems more alive than a normal tree?" By that point everyone in the table was staring at the tree.

Luna smiled before standing up and approaching the potted tree. "If you want to eat with us you can join us, you know? Especially if you were living here before us. Have you been living here all by yourself or are there any more?"

The tree suddenly transformed into a girl and even the pot disappeared as it transformed into white leather slippers. The girl was clad in a green short dress that looked as if it were made of leaves, but in seconds the leafy dress transfigured into a cream coloured long tunic that reminded Harry, Neville, and Luna of Arabian garments. The girl had wavy black hair that didn't reach her shoulders making her look somewhat boyish, but she was very pretty and had very tanned skin just like king Vicfer. Her eyes looked dark gray. "Hi!" She saluted.

They all said hello by raising their hands and waving them. The girl laughed. "Name's Nemaisse!"

The elf-fairy spoke with his mouth slightly full: "You'rewanymfff."

No one understood Soshlan, but the girl did. "Yup! I'm a nymph! I'm a dryad nymph!"

"So that's why you can turn into a tree," said Dianeia with a smile. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen. And no, I don't live here by myself. There are two others that are still playing outside. We always wondered when they were going to place more children here, but you don't smell like a child to me. You have the natural scent of recent adulthood."

"I am not a child," laughed Dianeia.

"Why didn't you say it when they caught you?" Nemaisse asked full of curiosity.

"Because I didn't want to get separated from them."

Nemaisse nodded. "Well, I'm the oldest of the children in this house, or was..." She stated this looking at the group because they all looked older than her. "The other two are siblings and are only eight and seven years old. They are common humans with no magic." The girl joined them on the table and started to tell them about the policies of the house. One of the policies was to bathe in pairs and threesomes if there was an additional person who didn't have another. In her case she had always bathed with the two smaller children ever since they were brought. The beds also had to be shared, two per bed. In that case she slept alone and the siblings in another bed which is allowed if there is an additional person.

Harry felt a knot in his stomach as he listened to the policies. He didn't want to consider having to bathe with another person and sleeping with another person. Nemaisse said that it was obligatory to bathe every single day at least once. It was to avoid the spreading of germs. Hands also had to be washed constantly.

The two missing children arrived to eat then and they introduced themselves as Koureen and Timnes. After eating they were all supposed to bathe as Harry dreaded. He quickly decided to try his luck by establishing how they would do it: "Okay, I guess that Koureen and Timnes can bathe together as they always have except that this time Nemaisse can bathe with Luna and Dianeia as a threesome. I can bathe with Neville, and Soshlan and Janryu can also bathe together. Is that alright with you?"

Nemaisse shook her head. "I will bathe with the siblings as I have always done before you came. Already used to it."

"I won't bathe with him!" Exclaimed Janryu and Soshlan at the same time pointing each other.

Luna then looked at Harry dreamily: "I want to bathe with Neville."

Neville turned scarlet at that and blurted: "I agree."

Harry felt as if it was a conspiracy against him. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! He looked at Dianeia with a pleading gaze and she smiled before asking: "Do you want to bathe with me, Harry?"

Harry thought he could easily faint by that point. He suddenly exclaimed in almost high-pitched voice: "I can't!"

Janryu smirked. "Then it's settled! Harry will bathe with fairy boy and I'll bathe with Dianeia."

"WHAT?" Harry looked horrorstricken. He noticed that Dianeia seemed almost hurt at his rejection.

To make matters worse Soshlan muttered very close to Harry: "You must be the biggest idiot I've ever met. You never reject a woman that wants you to bathe with her, ever."

Harry then stated quickly, but in a defeated tone: "I can bathe with you, Dianeia. Sorry I said that."

The young woman brightened, but Janryu looked annoyed. "Hey! You already rejected her! I don't want to bathe with fairy boy!"

"It's half-fairy, I mean Soshlan, you stupid vampire!"

"I will bathe with Harry," said Dianeia. At that Janryu knew he had lost and no matter what he was stuck with Soshlan. He was starting to despise the quest he had gotten himself into.

They all used the bath in an order. First went Nemaisse with the small children, then Neville with Luna, and by that point it was Soshlan and Janryu together. They seemed to be quarrelling and suddenly Soshlan was squealing like a girl. Harry approached the door and yelled from behind it: "JANRYU! IF YOU BITE SOSHLAN I'LL LEAVE YOU HERE WHEN WE ESCAPE, YOU HEAR ME?"

They could all hear Janryu's complaints and growls coming from inside the bathroom and laughed.

After those two it was Harry and Dianeia's turn at last. He was feeling very nervous and sweaty all over as they entered the bathroom and Dianeia locked the door. The bathtub looked more like a jacuzzi and that made Harry even more nervous, with a sensation of butterflies fluttering inside him. Dianeia started to undress and stopped as she noticed that he was still holding his vest like sleeveless shirt, completely paralyzed. "Do you need me to help you remove it?"

His voice came high-pitched again: "Of course not!"

She blinked and continued undressing and he quickly started to do the same, starting with the removal of his goggles. One thing had been seeing Luna naked, but seeing Dianeia was something he had never looked forward to, or had he?

She removed the scarf from her head and used it to wrap her long hair completely up so that it wouldn't get drenched. Then she entered the water and signalled for Harry to join her.

He was still enthralled looking at her beautiful not thin like Luna's, but curvaceous figure, but at the same time too embarrassed of her getting a glimpse of his body's reactions to watching her naked. He couldn't help it though and thus he finally removed the towel he had been using to cover his private parts after walking towards the bath. He entered as quickly as possible, but still heard a giggle coming from her. "You don't have to be shy. Here in Larakain it's very normal to have common baths. I guess that in your world it is not the norm..."

"No, it is not, at least not in the country where I come from... I think this could even be considered illegal in a certain sense."

"Why?" Dianeia asked curiously.

"Because of you being a female and me a male! Plus you are a bit older than me..."

"Oh! The age gap fears you told me about before?" Harry nodded. "Do you want me to scrub your back?" Dianeia took a scrubbing cloth that was there and filled it with soapy bubbles. Harry hadn't replied, but she started to scrub his back anyway. He swallowed as he felt his body reacting too badly to that, especially whenever he felt her fingers along with the cloth, caressing his back. By the time she finished he was panting. "Do you have breathing problems?" Dianeia asked concerned, but he shook his head and bit his lower lip. He thought he would go insane.

"I'll just have to pour some cold water on me after the bath or simply go to the loo and take care of a little problem I'm having," Harry said trembling, but not from coldness.

"Do you have to use the loo now? When you gotta, you gotta go, you know?"

"That's not what I meant," he clarified seriously.

Dianeia gasped and her pale features turned crimson. "Oh! I think I know what you mean." She laughed nervously. "Didn't think I had that effect on you... Do you like me?"

Harry felt terribly embarrassed, but he nodded and managed to blurt in a hoarse whisper: "A lot."

"I like you too, but..." She sighed. "It's complicated."

"I know. I'm too young for you."

"Don't be silly! It has nothing to do with age! Plus you are not that much younger than me! You're making me feel old!" She laughed to his surprise.

"Your people then?"

At that she nodded. "My people would never approve, plus there's the fact of you someday going back to your world. It would never work that way."

"You could come with me..." Harry suggested not even thinking about the possible consequences that might cause.

"I would love to see your world, but are you sure you could take me with you? I can't see that happening... You also forget that I'm not entirely human. What if I lose my human form in your world and permanently remain in my magical creature form?"

"I don't know. What's your magical creature form?"

"You will probably find out sooner or later. Just be patient."

Harry approached her without even realizing what he was doing. She simply gazed at him curiously and didn't stop him when he wrapped his arms around her waist and connected his body with hers in a very intimate embrace. Then he kissed her deeply, hungrily, the skin contact setting him ablaze.

After the bath they had to decide on who would sleep with whom. They decided that each would sleep with the same person he or she had bathed with, but Soshlan would sleep with Nemaisse and Janryu would sleep by himself. That was the only thing that changed as there was no way those two would sleep together and Nemaisse didn't mind sharing her bed with the elven fairy or anyone for that matter.

Harry had expected to see a common room full of beds, but he was wrong. The rooms were all separated, which meant that he would be completely alone with Dianeia, locked in a room with her and sleeping on the same bed. He didn't think he would be able to hold himself at that and knew the dangerous implications it could bring about, but at the same time he desired for those things to happen. There were pajamas ready for them in that room that magically shrunk or enlarged according to the body that touched them.

Dianeia smiled as she locked the bedroom's door and approached the bed. Harry gulped as he saw her join him in bed. He threw himself backwards, his head falling neatly upon his pillow. His hair had grown longer at a very quick pace in that world. It was strange as he had always kept his hair looking the same messy way. Now that it was longer it was almost tamed, but still went everywhere. He was self conscious about it, but at the same time liked how it looked now that it almost reached his shoulders.

Harry had already placed his goggles aside, but could still see the young woman perfectly. He decided to stare at the ceiling and she did the same, both in an awkward silence. "Can I kiss you again?" He asked gaining courage.

Dianeia laughed nervously before stating matter of factly: "It might not end good though."

"I know," he replied also nervous.

"Alright, you can, but I warned you... I might take advantage of you."

"I don't care. In fact, I would love that very much." Harry got on top of her in seconds and proceeded with the kiss he had started in the bath.

XxXxX

The morning light woke Harry and he moaned wanting to sleep some more, but knowing full well that the dream world wouldn't claim him again. He smiled as he felt his naked skin under the covers and gazed under them at the curvaceous naked body that was beside him. She was still asleep and he thought she looked beautiful and angelical as he made sure she was very well tucked in. He hovered above her and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before whispering: "I love you Dianeia."

She smiled with her eyes closed, moaned, and changed her body to sleep on its side. He laughed and got up to quickly get dressed. He noticed that during the night their clothing had been exchanged. He was disturbed at the thought of someone entering the room during the night, but relaxed. His new clothes weren't black, but they were the same style as the previous. The change was that now they were dark blue.

Dianeia's purple clothes had also changed. Now it was a diamond coloured long sleeved tunic short dress that would show some of her cleavage, with what seemed like long lycra pants of the same colour. She would look too diamond like with that, he thought.

Harry scanned the bedroom and noticed that there were white curtains over the windows that had obviously been opened by someone. Probably the same person that had brought the clothes. Made him wonder if there were servants like house elves in that world although he already knew that the concept of elves in that world was very different than in the wizarding world. He had seen it with Soshlan who was half elf, but nothing liked the elves in his world.

The bedroom was completely white, but had silvery arc designs on its walls that intertwined forming strange symbols. Some of the symbols he recognized as he had seen them in the guards' shields.

Full of curiosity he touched the symbols, feeling the texture and they glowed under his fingers. A strange sensation encompassed his body as he could feel pure magical energy in those silvery designs, but a voice woke him from his reverie. "How long are you going to be dressed in just your skin?" The voice laughed and he smiled, turning around. Dianeia was already dressed.

"I'll get dressed now."

"You should!" She replied with an evil smile as she eyed him up and down. He smirked at her and with only a movement of his hand his clothes dressed him. "Neat trick! You will have to teach me that one!"

"Only if you behave!" Harry winked at her.

"Very funny! I will tickle you for that! You know I always behave!"

Dianeia started to tickle Harry and both fell to the floor laughing, but at that moment the door flung open and Luna was there with Neville. Harry quickly straightened himself and cleared his throat: "How did you open the door?"

"Good morning. The lock was open," said Luna gazing at them with her protuberant eyes. "It's a beautiful day outside and breakfast is served, but we don't know when it was served. It's permanently hot, probably through some magical charms. I wonder if they have something similar to house elves."

At that Harry noticed that Luna's clothes were very different than the ones she had before, just like in Dianeia's case. Now Luna had slightly baggy pink long pants and a white tunic shirt that had slits that showed the skin from her arms. The long sleeves themselves were also transparent and they had middle arm bracelets that created an effect on those sleeves. Luna looked very pretty in those clothes. Neville had similar clothing to his previous just like Harry, but the tunic shirt was now almost burgundy and the pants were black.

Harry and Dianeia followed Luna and Neville to have some breakfast. They saw Janryu dressed in ninja like clothing still, but it had a dark purple upper part, very similar to his eye colour and black pants. Soshlan's clothes were forest green and Nemaisse was dressed in a short light blue sleeveless dress. The small siblings had red tunics while the day before they were in royal blue. Harry said 'good morning' to everyone and they silently had breakfast before going outside to enjoy the sunny day.

XxXxX

Hermione had been checking books and books for days without finding anything. She finally decided to go to the school records. School records were not books, but certainly there had to be something there if a student had disappeared. She kept checking, looking for a folder on students gone missing until she found what she was looking for. There had been students that had gone to the Forbidden Forest never to be seen again. Some were believed to have been turned into werewolves or vampires after their curiosity led them to commit such great risk. For centuries the forest had remained as a forbidden area for the students, but there had always been students that entered at their own risk. She felt embarrassed thinking that she was actually included in that bunch. In those records she also found Montague's disappearance and almost laughed. That one had been caused by the Weasley twins and Montague had come back confused, but well at least.

After days of constantly checking those records Hermione finally found something of interest even if the record was a very old one. It was a fourteen year old student that disappeared for almost the whole school year one hundred and forty years before, but had been found by June 2nd wounded and clad in strange clothing and heavy armor, plus armed with a golden whip and with some other strange items on him. He had been found by the Care for Magical Creatures teacher of that time in the borders of the Forbidden Forest. The name of the boy was also there and Hermione gasped. The name of the boy was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and he had been found with a strange stone that was then immediately confiscated as a dangerous magical artifact, as it had apparently been the cause of the boy's disappearance.

Hermione closed the record and saved it well. She was going to speak with the headmaster to see if there was a way to communicate with Harry, Neville and Luna. She thought there was a way and she was going to find it.

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	10. A Surprise Attack and An Escape

Disclaimer: In case someone needs to be reminded, Harry Potter is not mine.

Author's Notes: I have a tendency to write things with a future purpose. Yup, I enjoy using foreshadowing. Sometimes I even re-read what I've written and grasp details that I can use later on for other things to happen, meaning that when I originally wrote a certain part I did it randomly, but then I go like: "Whoa! I can use this to develop something else!" It's just my style. Things that may seem random might be significant later on and maybe even sooner than what you would expect them. Not that you will go now and check every tiny detail. Don't do that or you'll go insane! Don't try reading my mind either, I'm a good Occlumens. (Yeah right!)

Beta Read Version thanks to **Menecarkawan!**

Song: 'Blast My Desire' by Move (from Initial D, methinks)

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**Ch. 10: A Surprise Attack and An Escape**

For two weeks, the young heroes were in the kingdom of Franya waiting for a signal from Dianeia. She kept telling them that the time wasn't right yet and that she would receive a signal from her twin that she would recognize. By the time the second week was ending, Dianeia looked worried and Harry kept asking what was wrong, but she wouldn't reply. She would simply gaze into the distance or watch the children play. Harry wasn't stupid though. He knew the young woman was hiding something from him and he felt that he deserved an explanation, even more when they had gotten so close to each other. In the end, they had remained sleeping together even if in bath times they had exchanged bathing partners and during the last days Luna and Dianeia had bathed together and he had been bathing with either Neville, Janryu, or Soshlan. To him it had been a relief in a certain sense because he would have gone out of control bathing always with Dianeia when his teenage hormones were running rampant. Some nights had still been full of passion though, but at that moment he felt Dianeia was treating him like a child by not sharing what exactly was on her mind.

On the last day of the second week, Harry decided he would get an answer and grabbed her arm. "What is it that is wrong? We've waited for two weeks already! When are they going to help us escape? I want an explanation now!"

"It's complicated," she replied lowering her gaze.

"What do you mean by that? Do you think I'm a child that will not understand?" He felt his anger rising as he was reminded of the many times Dumbledore would hide things from him, things that he certainly needed to know.

"I don't think you're child. I consider you a man, Harry. By saying it was complicated I didn't mean that you wouldn't be able to understand. The problem is I've lost the connection with my twin ever since a week ago. The last thing I felt from him was anxiety at something that was approaching this kingdom, trying to find a way to get through the magical barriers. The day after that I felt my brother no more. It's complicated because I have no idea of what has happened."

Harry sighed and tried to be as careful as possible with his following question. "Do you think that he might be... you know... err..."

"Dead? No. He is not dead. That, I'm sure of. You don't have to be shy asking, Harry. Death is a very normal thing and even though I would have been saddened, I'm strong enough to cope if it happens." She was gazing into the horizon as she spoke and Harry nodded at her statement and hugged her. They kissed after that and felt someone scowl behind them.

"Aww man! All the girls are taken!" Janryu exclaimed looking pissed.

Harry laughed as he saw Neville and Luna speaking enthusiastically to each other and even Soshlan lost in conversation with Nemaisse.

That day, Dianeia was dressed in a pastel pink sleeveless tunic dress and fuchsia long pants. She had brown fur boots and her headscarf was of the same pastel pink as her tunic. Harry was wearing brown boots and that day he was dressed with a long sleeved cream coloured shirt and gray long pants. He also had a cream coloured bandanna and had transfigured his black goggles to beige. Luna was dressed in a dark blue short-sleeved tunic and dark blue pants that reached her mid leg, but her long dark blue fur boots didn't allow for any part of her legs to be seen. Neville was dressed in a sleeveless dark green shirt that was put over his head like a pullover and black pants. Janryu wasn't a 'ninja' anymore as he had a long sleeved gray shirt laced in 'Xs' on its front and dark brown pants. Soshlan was in a light yellow tunic and pants that with the colour of his hair made him look like a chick or a canary. Nemaisse was dressed in a reddish brown short dress with very short pants of the same colour underneath.

The earth suddenly trembled as if there was an earthquake and the air was filled with the screams of all the children that had been previously playing. Harry and his companions looked upwards and saw what looked like fireworks and a quivering sky above them. Harry suddenly figured that it wasn't the sky quivering or fireworks. It was the shield that surrounded the kingdom flickering and crumbling under invasive magic. "I think this kingdom is being attacked," were the words that left his lips.

Many soldiers came out of nowhere and started to pick up the screaming children and take them away. They kept yelling: "WE HAVE TO EVACUATE THE CITY! TO THE MOUNTAIN CAVES IMMEDIATELY! ALL THE CHILDREN GROUP TOGETHER! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"

Many of the children had burst into tears and ran to where the guards were, but Harry and his companions didn't. They started to run toward the limits of the city using the confusion as their cover. Nemaisse went after them yelling: "YOU ARE RUNNING THE WRONG WAY! THE MOUNTAIN CAVES ARE BEHIND THE CITY, NOT AT THE FRONT!" The young nymph hadn't realized that her newly made friends weren't trying to save themselves from the attack, but using it as cover for their escape. She had heard them speak about escaping several times, but hadn't considered them serious about it.

As they reached the border, Harry raised his right hand and exclaimed: "_Accio _all of our weapons!" Everyone was surprised except for Neville and Luna as Dianeia's rod, Neville's guns and knuckles, Luna's staff, Janryu's magical sack that produced an infinite amount of knives and stars, and some boomerangs that belonged to Soshlan came to them. The surprised owners caught the weapons and they all looked at Harry. Dianeia smiled at the black haired teen. "Do you feel your twin?" he asked her.

Dianeia concentrated and nodded looking somewhat surprised. "I feel him!" She closed her eyes for a minute and opened them. "He is coming this way, but he says that the dark lord's army is outside. We might have to fight our escape against the enemy!"

Harry nodded and suddenly saw Nemaisse staring at them. She looked very confused. "Have you guys gone mad? Why are you risking your lives?"

Harry had never told Nemaisse that they weren't from that world and there was no time to explain it in details. "We are from the other world, Nemaisse. Our mission is to fight the dark lord. We cannot remain hidden. Hope you understand."

The nymph girl gaped in surprise, but nodded. "What should I do then?"

Neville spoke to her quickly: "You still have time to join the other children in the evacuation! Go!"

Nemaisse looked back, but the children were almost completely gone. She was about to start her race back when the ground trembled again and the force field that protected the kingdom flickered for the last time and vanished.

Like a stampede, the enemy army started its way towards the discovered kingdom. There was no way Nemaisse could outrun them. She didn't know what to do when she saw Harry and his friends running toward the stampede rather than away from it. She thought they had to be completely crazy to do that, but after she shook her head in her disbelief, she ran after them.

Harry used magical waves to push soldiers away and Luna and Neville did the same creating a barrier with which they could push their way out. For the moment that had caused some confusion in the enemy soldiers because they thought they were attacking guards from the kingdom, but it didn't last long. Harry heard an enemy soldier yell: "THEY ARE CHILDREN! GET THEM AS SUPPLY FOR OUR KING!"

Dianeia invoked a stronger wave with her rod that she merged with the one Harry, Neville, and Luna had created. Janryu also put some magic into it, being imitated by Soshlan and even Nemaisse afterwards. Some mages between the enemies started to weaken the barrier though. The escaping group had almost reached the last of the enemy army in their race, but the mages finally destroyed their force field. Harry quickly prepared his sword and the rest of his friends followed suit preparing their weapons. They all started to fight the armored soldiers, which was something that took the soldiers by surprise. They had never expected children to actually fight them.

"FIGHT THEM BACK, BUT DON'T KILL THEM!" As a leader enemy soldier exclaimed those words, the others obeyed.

Harry gave his own orders to his companions: "SIMPLY FIGHT YOUR WAY OUT OF HERE! WE CANNOT RISK TIRING OURSELVES!"

They fought bravely until they were able to start running again, but many soldiers went after them and some mages suddenly changed the appearance of the territory. Harry and his friends found themselves trapped between two walls and a very high cliff in front of them. One of the mages threw a huge ball of fire at Soshlan and the elf-fairy had no time to dodge it. He closed his eyes, but felt something push him violently against one of the walls. He slammed hard against it and when he opened his eyes, he saw that knives and stars were holding him. He couldn't believe Janryu had saved him even if it had been in such a brutal and painful way. With a magnet effect, Janryu summoned his pointy weapons back and Soshlan broke his own fall and mouthed a 'thanks.'

Luna called both Undine and Bijon at the same time forgetting that such a thing could weaken her too much. Both summons attacked the enemy, Bijon with a thunderstorm and Undine with a tsunami, but after some minutes, Luna fell on her knees and the summons returned to her. Neville carried her over one shoulder and looked at Harry as he shot one of his guns randomly at the enemy, that had just recovered from Luna's attack with help from the mages. "What are we going to do?"

Harry looked at Dianeia with an inquisitive look because he was still counting on her twin brother. She quickly replied. "They are almost here. We have to buy them some time. Another summon?" Harry nodded and summoned Fenghuang. The phoenix created a fire barrier in front of them and started to attack the numerous enemy soldiers with fire bolts, but Harry had to call it back as he could feel the sudden strain on his body as the mages attacked the phoenix. The dark mages vanquished the fire barrier that was in front of the young group and one of them rapidly sent a ray of light against Harry. The ray went right through Harry's chest pushing him far backwards and in seconds, Harry was falling off the cliff.

The others looked in horror, but Dianeia removed her headscarf and opened her arms making the scarf wrap around them serpent like and merge with her body. Her clothing also blended with her skin and then she threw herself after Harry. In midair, there was a blinding light and Harry was able to see above him a magical creature coming towards him at incredible velocity. It was a beautiful winged unicorn of the purest diamond white he had ever seen. Its horn gleamed with a pink colour.

With its amazing speed the unicorn passed the falling boy and got under him and as if on cue Harry turned his body around landing on the creature on his stomach. He was able to grab the unicorn's abundant mane as he fell on it, managing to quickly mount it. He embraced the creature's neck with his heart still going at what felt like a thousand miles per hour and a tingling sensation on his chest that he couldn't figure out at that moment. The unicorn flew upwards and went in speedy circles creating a tornado that went against the enemy army. Dark mages prepared themselves to use a spell they had to trap winged unicorns for the dark lord, but Soshlan threw a bronze boomerang that broke the dark mages' staves before returning to him. He had known full well what they had intended to do.

Soon a dark yellow Pegasus and a silver winged unicorn that had dark blue triangle runes on it's head and a sapphire horn appeared and signalled with their heads for the youngsters to mount them.

Neville, who was holding a weak Luna, looked taken aback, but at the sight of Harry on a winged unicorn too he quickly headed for the silver unicorn and mounted it with Luna. Soshlan went for the Pegasus with a hesitating Nemaisse behind him and they mounted it while Harry weakly called Janryu. Janryu looked terribly scared of the light creatures, but as Harry extended his hand to him with a faint smile and he looked back to the enemies that were already vanquishing the tornado, he ran and grabbed Harry's hand, letting the other teen pull him towards the creature and help him mount.

Just as Janryu grabbed Harry's waist, the three winged creatures flew with great speed that made the mounted teens hold themselves as strong as they possibly could. In what seemed like only seconds they were flying across the sea as far from that land as they could.

As they were approaching land, Harry saw blood in his hand. That was when he noticed the wound on his chest that had formed an enormous bloodstain on his shirt. He started to pant as he felt very dizzy and started to cough blood. Janryu's eyes went wide as he also noticed there was blood on his shirt and confirmed that it came from the back of Harry's own shirt. "WE HAVE TO LAND FAST! HARRY IS DYING!" Janryu yelled at the top of his lungs.

The creatures reacted immediately and they landed close to a clearing. The teens dismounted and the three creatures transformed to their human forms. Dianeia quickly kneeled and started healing magic on Harry. She had almost forgotten the reason he had fallen off the cliff in the first place. Luna joined her with her own curative magic and Dionaius and an unknown young man did the same. Harry's wound closed after some time, but he had lost a great amount of blood as the ray had made a hole through him. It was a miracle it hadn't destroyed vital organs, but that was probably because the mage had made sure not to kill the 'child.'

The dark blonde young man opened his mouth and produced a dark red sphere that he introduced into Harry's own mouth. "This will replenish his blood. I turned it red so that my blood colour wouldn't disturb the other children," he said in a soft tenor voice.

Dianeia looked frightened at the young man that had previously been a Pegasus. "Isn't that dangerous? Mixing your blood with his?"

The young man smiled innocently at her. "I had already analyzed his blood with some quick scanning and we are compatible." He winked at Dianeia and the young woman blushed.

"Still..." Dianeia looked disturbed. "That's not possible. His blood couldn't have been compatible with your blood. Completely different races! He is a human and you're from the Pegasi people!"

That dark blonde frowned. "My analysis didn't lie and I'm only half Pegasus."

"Who are you anyway? And what do you mean by half?" She was very inquisitive and wore a very serious expression.

Dionaius looked nervous at the way his twin had snapped at the Pegasus bloke. "He is a friend, Dianeia, and it would be better if you don't learn about his heritage for your own mental health."

Janryu started to smell the young man, not really afraid of him, but Nemaisse hid behind Soshlan. Soshlan trembled and started to step back from the 'Pegasus' he had previously mounted with the nymph. He had noticed something strange in that Pegasus, but didn't have time to analyze it then.

The dark blonde man straightened himself. He was quite tall and his straight hair barely reached his shoulders. His eyes were big, looked like sapphires, and had a constant eerie glow. His skin was of a tanned olive shade and he wore a blue long sleeved tunic that reached his knees and black pants. The man was handsome, but there was something strange about him. He introduced himself with a faint smile. "My name is Kroy. I am twenty-five years old. Pleased to meet you."

Soshlan was rude all of a sudden. "What possessed your parents to get married?"

Harry, who was faring much better now groaned before sending a glare in Soshlan's direction. The elf-fairy couldn't get past his prejudices. The boy almost reminded him of Ron in a very peculiar way, but Harry would make sure that the boy would change. Certainly being of mixed blood had to help in that aspect.

Dianeia relaxed all of a sudden and spoke in a tired tone: "You're the first one I've met that is half dark and half light. I've never seen something like it. I already know that you are no half vampire, but what I think you are is still very disturbing."

"What are you?" Neville was very curious and Luna grabbed his hand smiling at Kroy.

"Alright then, no use trying to hide it anyway." Kroy lifted his hands as if in a defensive posture. "I'm half Pegasus as you already know and half Draconian."

Harry stood quickly and alarmed Dianeia who wanted to make him sit again, but he didn't. "Can you turn into a dragon?"

Kroy nodded, but frowned. "It's not nice though. It doesn't happen at will and it's painful. It only happens if I'm under too much stress, in grave danger, wounded, or provoked to the extreme. So far in my life, I've only transformed twice that I'm aware of as I tend to have a very patient nature and soft character. It would require quite an emotional outburst to transform that I lack. My father is from the Draconian people and my mother belongs to the Pegasi race."

"That's wicked cool!" Neville exclaimed with an agreeing Luna next to him.

Janryu suddenly blurted: "I think I can handle the likes of you."

"I think it's amazing," stated Harry. "I'm glad your parents weren't prejudiced against each other. And by the way, thanks for the blood. I was conscious enough to know what was happening around me."

Dionaius looked at Dianeia as if searching for something and she averted her eyes. Just like his twin sister, he knew that the possibility of Kroy making a blood transfusion for Harry was simply not possible. "Dianeia?" She shook her head and the twin dropped it. He would interrogate her later.

Soshlan was still silent when he sat down and Nemaisse kept hiding behind the elf-fairy as if Kroy would try to eat her or something. She was even trembling with fear.

Janryu decided to change the tone of things and made an announcement: "To anyone who is interested I am nineteen years old today! Happy Birthday to me!"

Everyone stared at him and muttered 'Happy Birthday' with little emotion in their voices. It made Janryu feel extremely unloved. "Great! I knew you wouldn't care!" Luna let go of Neville's hand, went to Janryu and surprised him with a warm hug. The vampire boy was very shocked, but smiled. "Thanks! So... What do we do now?"

"I have to return with my brothers by tomorrow so I won't be able to stay long with you lot." Dionaius said this not looking at anyone in particular, but at the ground. He was still thinking about the strange blood event, but he wouldn't mention anything about it to Zheylks. He still needed to confront his twin sister at some time though.

Kroy looked at Dionaius and then at the adventurers. "Well, I can stay with them if you want me to Dionaius. It's not like I want to meet your oldest brother..." Kroy was already aware about Zheylks and knew that the man would never accept a bizarre halfblood like him as Dionaius' friend.

Harry falling to the floor as if possessed interrupted their reverie. The boy started to contort and convulse to their horror as a strange magic surrounded him. He screamed as if in great pain. Harry was only reminded of one thing as he was feeling like his body was being torn apart. He was reminded of the Cruciatus curse and that wasn't all. He screamed even more as a deep horrid voice ripped through his mind speaking to it directly and no one else being able to hear it: "YOUR POWER WILL BELONG TO ME, CHILD FROM ANOTHER WORLD! DO NOT DARE DEFY ME!"

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**Thanks to the ones that reviewed: lovenotknown, deepeningblue, and Fk306 animelover.**

**_Please leave a review. _:)**


	11. Evolutions

Author's Notes on Summons: Some explanations on the summons in case there is some confusion even if no one has asked. lol **Fenghuang** is simply the Chinese phoenix. **Lamorte** is a union of La Morte (Death). **Meles **is the genus of the Eurasian badger. Simple, huh? **Undine** is truly the name of a mythological water spirit and the name is common in fantasy anime and many video games (I at least remember it from Secret of Mana for example). **Bijon** I have already mentioned that I made it up by playing with the word 'vision.' **Gryphoner **doesn't need an explanation I bet. 'wink' **Ouraion**, which will enter in this chapter, is how the Egyptians called the basilisk. In case you were wondering where I got the names from, hope this explains it. As you can see I didn't complicate my life and went simple. -embarrassed- Nothing cool about it. -sighs-

Another Note: I've picked up many things from anime and video games for this fic, but I twist them for my own purposes so I hope I to make them 'original' in a certain way for the plot. Now, there is something in this chapter called the Evolution Portal. I really don't remember ever seeing something like this before so I kind of made it up. lol It's possible that someone has seen something similar before, but I honestly haven't so that wasn't influenced by anything at all. Hope you all enjoy the idea.

Beta-Read by **Menecarkawan! **Thanks love!

Song: 'Raimei - Out of Kontrol' by MOVE (I must be getting very into m.o.v.e. songs... They're so cool!)

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**Ch. 11: Evolutions**

No one could do anything to stop what was happening to Harry so they waited in horror for it to pass. He was thrashing and screaming for about five minutes and when it finally stopped he went completely still.

"Is he dead?" Asked Nemaisse speaking for the first time since they had arrived to that land.

Dionaius kneeled and checked Harry's badly scratched form due to thrashing so much on the earth. He shook his head and everyone sighed in relief. He then said: "I've never seen something like this before..."

"I have," said Neville looking blanched. "That almost looked like the Cruciatus curse, but it can't be... Not here... Please!"

Harry opened his eyes and with difficulty got into a sitting position. His bespectacled eyes looked unfocused, but he kept trying to straighten himself. He noticed their expressions and quickly explained with a sore throat: "An after effect of whatever that mage hit me with. The dark lord of this world spoke to me through that magic before it could completely fade."

"He spoke to you?" Soshlan looked fearful.

"What did he say?" Dianeia asked with a determined expression.

"He already knows I'm not from this world. He wants my power."

Dianeia quickly moved towards the teen, dropped to her knees, and wrapped her arms around him from behind his body at the same time curative magic came from within her to heal him. "Everything will be alright," she whispered. Harry nodded at that.

"Does he know about us?" Luna asked, but not looking worried at all.

"I don't know," said Harry looking a little confused. "I'm not sure."

"Why don't you use that scan thing of yours and we move out of here? I have a feeling we shouldn't stay in the same place for long." Janryu said this looking everywhere as if fearing something might come out and attack them.

Harry nodded at the vampire. "Let's move on." He used his scanner and found there was indeed a fragment in that island. "There's one here, about three kilometers from where we are now."

Janryu sniffed the air and Soshlan got his boomerang ready. "Fiends!" The elf-fairy exclaimed.

In seconds, green humanoid creatures that had fangs and reptilian tongues surrounded them. They were hairy and their eyes looked like red marbles. One of them spat some fluid at Neville that confused him and made him attack Soshlan with his knuckles. Soshlan leapt back avoiding the attack and used his boomerang against one of the fiends hitting it squarely on its head. It bruised the creature, but made it get angry and its skin got reddish. It enlarged its arm, grabbed Soshlan by the neck and threw him away a few meters. Soshlan fell to the ground unconscious. He was out of the fight.

Dionaius got a prism-topped rod from under his current light gray garments. He chanted some words and his runes glowed. A dusty smoke came from his rod and consumed one of the five creatures, but another threw some spines from its skin at him and Dionaius fell to the ground in deep slumber.

Janryu threw some knives at one of the four remaining creatures stabbing it everywhere, but the wounded creature went reddish like the one Soshlan had previously attacked, enlarged its arm and tried to grab Janryu, but he dodged with ease. The arm kept trying to grab him and moved faster and faster until it grabbed its target and crushed him fiercely against the ground knocking him out instantly. At the same time that happened Neville had started to shoot at Luna and Dianeia and both had to create shields to defend themselves from a confused Neville. Harry had to use his sword's hilt to knock Neville by hitting the other boy on the stomach with it. After that Harry went against one of the now reddish fiends and decapitated it, making it vanish. He pierced another one, but it didn't kill it. Quickly leaping back he avoided being hit by its enlarged arm and he swung his sword to chop the arm off accomplishing his task. The monster created a new arm and went redder. At that moment Dianeia and Luna were fighting two of the monsters along with Kroy. Luna was put to sleep by one of them after she used a weak lightning bolt on it.

Kroy had been doing hand to hand combat, but changed his tactic. He opened his arms and under them appeared what looked like very strong scales and he threw some of them at one of the creatures. It tried to attack him, but Kroy moved his arm in a circle and as he moved it a shield of scales formed following the circular movement. The monster's arm hit there and shattered.

Nemaisse had been observing everything, looking as someone who had never fought before in her life, but she suddenly got courageous and opened her mouth. What looked like fog came from her confusing the three remaining monsters as they couldn't see anymore. Dianeia used the vacuum magic she had to swallow one of the monsters while Harry charred another to ashes with a powerful flame. Kroy's eyes glowed brighter and he growled before he sent scales against the last monster. The scales started to horribly skin the monster and make it melt in what looked like its own blood. It was a gruesome sight that surprised the others, but the monster vanished keeping them from seeing anymore of it.

Harry looked at Kroy: "That was... err... a bit disgusting?"

Kroy laughed. "I'm used to it."

"Are those scales a weapon or part of you?" Nemaisse was actually brave enough to ask the half Draconian something.

"They are part of me. I cannot turn into a dragon at will, but there are Draconic abilities I can use at will."

"Let's wake the others," said Dianeia with a raised eyebrow.

XxXxX

They had decided to walk the three kilometers, which meant several encounters with fiends, but Dionaius insisted that the training was much needed. Harry actually agreed with that. He still felt like an amateur and if he was going to fight the dark lord, he had to be ready.

He finished cutting a plant monster in half before saying. "We're close to the fragment."

The place they reached was volcanic and very hot. The fiends there were all made of lava and Luna scanned them and confirmed that they could easily be defeated with ice magic. After a while, they had finally reached the top of a volcano. Harry wondered why a summon would be in that rocky and volcanic area. He already had the fire summon so it couldn't be a fiery one. Neville, Luna, and Harry extended their hands at the top of the volcano and a fragment floated upwards. It was gray in colour and it kept checking the three teens as if rejecting the three of them. Harry wondered what was wrong until Kroy spoke: "It seems that none of you is powerful enough to wield it, but wait. It will probably choose the strongest of you three in the end."

Kroy was right. The fragment seemed to hesitate several times in front of each teen, but it chose Harry in the end and entered the boy's body. Harry felt as if he wasn't entirely compatible with it. "I don't think this is right... It doesn't feel right."

Luna and Neville looked at him with worried expressions. "Maybe you will be able to handle it after you train enough or after your power increases?" Asked Neville.

"I hope so, but I don't feel comfortable with it." Harry looked very disturbed as they started their way down. Just then, a huge lava fiend appeared blocking their path. It started to throw lava balls at them and they all scattered dodging like crazy because the monster was extremely fast at throwing. Janryu kept trying to hit it with ice magic, but as he had to dodge the barrage of lava balls, it was very difficult to aim so he kept missing the monster. The same happened with the others and none of the three foreigners had an ice summon yet. Harry didn't think 'death' would be something to affect that monster either so summoning Lamorte was out of the question.

Harry suddenly felt the new summon coming out of his body and Dionaius yelled at him. "DON'T!"

Harry yelled back looking alarmed: "I'M NOT CONTROLLING IT! ITS COMING OUT ON ITS OWN! IT'S GONE MAD!"

A huge serpent that looked like a silver basilisk with golden eyes was what came out of Harry's chest. It emitted a horrible sound that made them cover their ears and it stared fiercely at the lava monster. The monster got paralyzed and starting from its feet its body started to turn into stone. It growled one last time before its head was also made of stone and then it crumbled at the horrible screech the serpent was still emitting. What they didn't expect was the serpent to turn against them afterwards. Harry felt fear creeping inside him as he yelled: "DON'T LOOK AT IT! I'LL TRY TO TAME IT!" For some reason he was sure that he wouldn't be turned into stone, but the giant snake still attacked him by thrusting its head at the boy and showing its poisonous gigantic fangs. Harry dodged and dodged and then the snake violently turned into steam and went into Harry in a way that was painful to the young man. Harry screamed as the summon entered his chest and fell on his knees. He panted and trembled as he said desperately: "I don't want it! I don't want it! I don't want it!"

Kroy placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Get a grip. It will be fine once you develop more power. Give it some time."

Harry had always feared being reminded of his Slytherin side, which he knew was childish, but he still despised it. It seemed that snakes would follow him everywhere though and now there was that summon to remind him about it. He suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong?" Asked Dianeia concerned.

Harry shook his head. "It just surprised me by telling me its name. That's all. It also told me I wasn't ready for it."

At least Harry looked calmer then. Luna was the one to ask: "And what is its name?"

"Ouraion." Harry got up and they continued their way downwards.

After they had finally left the volcanic area Dianeia, Dionaius, and Kroy reacted at the same time, opening their arms to keep the others behind them. "What?" Soshlan asked.

The twins answered in unison. "Evolution portal."

"What's that?" Nemaisse asked the question everyone had at that moment.

At that moment, the three adults started a whispering discussion that got on the others' nerves. "Can you please explain what's happening?" Harry asked in a commanding tone, but not in an arrogant way.

Dianeia, Kroy, and Dionaius looked at the children. The twins then looked at Kroy, who was the oldest, and he explained. "Evolution portals appear when a child reaches the age of twenty. They can detect when a child is ready to evolve. They can appear on the same day the child reaches twenty or even weeks or months after that has happened. Dionaius, Dianeia and I are confused because an evolution portal has appeared in front of us blocking our way as if there was someone between you who is ready to evolve. It won't go away until it evolves the child who is supposed to have become an adult. That's why we are so confused. Are any of you twenty?" They all shook their heads. Kroy looked alarmed and looked at Janryu. "Are you sure you turned nineteen? Are you sure of your birth date?"

Janryu looked offended. "Do you think I'm a moron just because I'm a vampire? Of course I'm sure I just turned nineteen!"

Kroy closed an eye as he scratched his head thinking. "Have you done something that only adults are supposed to do? Attempted some difficult magic?"

Janryu turned red and nodded. Ever since he had joined Harry and friends, he had been secretly practicing magic at night when the others slept. He knew he wasn't supposed to practice some of the magic he had attempted. "Yes." He looked defeated as he confessed with just one word.

Kroy sighed. "Here is the cause." Kroy said to the twins and then turned to the others. "He will evolve at nineteen. It's rare, but there are cases like these. We'll go through the portal because we have no choice. It's the only way to make it go away. Don't worry as it will only affect the one who is ready to evolve." He spoke to Janryu then: "It will be painful, but it will pass after a while. You will be weak and vulnerable afterwards." Janryu nodded looking pale and they entered the portal.

Something no one expected happened then. Indeed Janryu fell to the floor gripping his chest in pain and screamed as his hair grew and his boyish features started to change, but he wasn't the only one. To everyone's surprise, Harry had also dropped to the ground. Both boys screamed as the evolving magic claimed them.

Harry could listen to the beating of his heart and feel changes occurring inside his body. He could also feel his blood changing for some reason. The magic pierced him like shards of glass and tears formed on his eyes from the pain. It wasn't like the Cruciatus curse, but it was still horribly unbearable. He also felt his goggles entering his skin violently and the lenses disappearing into his eyes, clawing into them. They had become part of him instead of being something external. After it all passed, he felt a tingling cold sensation washing over him and the magic settled. He could hear Kroy's voice: "They will be feverish for several hours. We have to find a shelter." Harry felt his body being carried and could hear what he was sure was a quarrel between the twins. He listened carefully to what was steaming between them.

"LIKE I SAID! FIRST THE TRANSFUSION AND NOW THIS! WHAT DID YOU DO DIANEIA? ANSWER ME!"

"I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT EITHER! JUST STOP ASKING!"

Dionaius stopped yelling, but kept interrogating his sister. "Dianeia, you are hiding something! If he is only seventeen he wasn't supposed to evolve! And the magic he possessed was already his to begin with, not attempts like in the vampire's case! Dianeia! Please, tell me you didn't! His body has obviously merged with yours! Will you deny it?"

Dianeia started to cry. Harry wanted to say something, but he didn't have the strength to even speak and could feel the burning of fever on his body. He knew that the one carrying him was Kroy and that Dionaius had to be carrying Janryu, but couldn't see anything. He wondered if he had lost his sight along with the goggles and with them, the scanner to find the fragments.

"I... I didn't know it would affect him," said Dianeia as she sobbed. "I didn't know!"

"A very terrible way to turn him into a man..." Dionaius sounded irritated. "Do you know why our race avoids mixed marriages? Because we are dominant, sis'! You mess up with another race and you can mutate it according to his power because it was changing! You... Oh God, Dianeia! What have you done?" (Their race is monotheist.) Harry thought it sounded like Dionaius was the one crying then. "What have you done?" He repeated. "No wonder his blood was compatible with Kroy's Pegasus line even if it's halved! It was probably compatible with yours and mine too! You've ruined his life! I don't even know what he is now! Certainly not human anymore! Even his physical form is changing!"

A big 'WHAT?' formed in Harry's mind, but he couldn't voice it. Was his physique truly changing? He didn't feel much because he was so numb after all that pain plus burning with a fever.

"I'm sorry," muttered the young woman. She had never known she would affect Harry's body. It had never crossed her mind.

"I don't even want to know how Zheylks will react to this... And our parents? Oh God... This is not happening!"

"I won't return then," Dianeia stated matter of factly.

This took Dionaius by surprise: "What?"

"You heard me." She was sure of herself. "I screwed up, I'll pay the consequences."

"Dia... Maybe... Maybe it won't be so bad if they learn that he is from the other world... They do admire that other world... Our people I mean."

Dianeia remained quiet at that.

XxXxX

After hiding the children under cloaks, the group entered a village and went to the town's Inn. Janryu and Harry were placed in beds immediately so that they could rest. Everyone else had been quiet, although Neville had felt his ears burning during the word exchange between siblings. He wasn't dumb. He could figure out perfectly what had transpired between Dianeia and Harry to bring chaos upon them. Harry was indeed changing and Neville wondered what would happen. Would he even look like Harry Potter by the time they returned to Hogwarts? Even The-Boy-Who-Lived's hair was changing dramatically. The waves it had had softened giving it an appearance of straighter hair although it still had waves. The rich black now had blue streaks all over it that in Neville's opinion were very cool. He wondered if Harry's hair would turn completely blue in the end or would simply stay with those blue streaks, but that wasn't all. Harry's hair had grown and now fell below the teen's shoulders. The goggles were also gone and Neville remembered how they had pierced into Harry's skin. The lightning scar seemed to be fading and Harry's skin looked translucent. The small frame was also gone, making Harry look less like a child. Now he looked his age at least because he had grown taller. Neville wondered about Harry's eyes. He wouldn't know how they looked like until Harry opened them.

"What is it that happened?" Nemaisse asked Soshlan and the elf-fairy shrugged.

Luna approached the youngest ones and said dreamily: "Harry and Dianeia became one." The two youngsters still looked confused and looked at each other, but suddenly Soshlan started to turn pink and Nemaisse averted her eyes. It seemed they were grasping the meaning of what Luna had said.

"I have to leave you now, like I said before. Kroy, take care of them. Dianeia, I won't tell Zheylks, but sooner or later he'll find out and I don't think he'll be happy." Dianeia nodded with a soured expression and Dionaius kissed her on her forehead. "Take care."

Dionaius left and there was silence in the room where they were all cramped together. It had several beds, as it was a room designed for travelling groups. Kroy had stripped both evolved boys of all their clothing and had placed cold towels over their bodies before covering them with warm blankets. Janryu was the first to start reacting. Light violet eyes instead of dark fluttered open. He rubbed his eyes and looked at everyone. They all gaped as they saw the new Janryu. The change was truly remarkable. He now looked like a very handsome man instead of a disheveled boy. His hair looked moist instead of hay dry and fell in neat waves below his shoulders. His Asian eyes looked refined. Everyone thought Janryu looked very mature and even Kroy stated: "You won't be considered a child anymore. You don't look like one."

Janryu jumped from the bed, sheets and towels falling from his body. He quickly looked for a full length mirror and enchanted it with magic he didn't have before so that the mirror would show his reflection. As he saw himself, he started to jump up and down with excitement and exclaimed: "I'm a man! I'm a man! And I'm... Wow Janryu, you look good! The girls will want you now! Just look at this body! It'll make the girls drool!" He certainly looked more muscular, but hadn't realized that the three females in the room were actually covering their eyes in horror rather than admiring him. That's when he noticed he was naked: "Eep! Where are my clothes? I know I look good, but you didn't have to steal my clothes!"

Soshlan sighed: "And here I was thinking he looked so mature and he spoiled the image in such a horrible way. Now I take my thoughts back. A pity that the physical maturity doesn't reflect in his brain..."

Janryu glared at Soshlan. "You're just jealous of my beautiful muscular body because you have a wimpy frame!"

"Jealous of a freak like you?"

Janryu showed his fangs to Soshlan making the elf-fairy step back, but then the vampire's clothes landed on his head and he quickly dressed up after muttering a 'thanks' to Kroy.

"Look! Harry is waking!" Neville exclaimed before running to Harry's side along with Luna and Dianeia.

Harry's eyes opened and he looked confused as he started to perfectly focus on everyone. He hadn't gone blind as he had thought previously, but could feel that his senses had sharpened and his eyesight was one of them. Now he could see without his glasses, but he felt very strange. He grabbed a strand of his hair and was taken a aback. He reacted with a muted gasp as he saw the blue streaks in his changed and longer hair. He touched his face feeling under the tact of his fingers that his boyish features had refined themselves. Luna gave him a mirror wearing a smile on her lips and saying: "You look beautiful. Look at your eyes."

Harry touched his eyelids and lifted them. His brilliant green eyes now had a fluorescent turquoise border. His face still looked juvenile enough to be considered a child unlike Janryu's though. Harry pulled his face back as another face appeared in front of his to check him out. Janryu studied him and stated matter of factly: "You still look like a child to me."

Dianeia looked saddened as she spoke: "He evolved prematurely and he is still only seventeen. We couldn't expect for him to look really older, but at least now he looks between seventeen and eighteen instead of fifteen..."

Harry gave her a playful glare and she glared back, but then he whispered. "I want to speak with you, privately."

Kroy signaled at the others and they all left the room for a while. Dianeia sat on the bed Harry was in. "You heard me and my brother, right?"

"Yes. What exactly is happening to me? I don't look like me. In fact, I feel I'm starting to look like your brothers. Will I keep changing? Will it stop? Will I change back to my normal form in the near future?"

"So many questions!" Dianeia was thoughtful, considering everything that was asked. "You have evolved, that is what has happened to you. In this world when you evolve your features always change like in Janryu's case, but he still looks like himself in a certain way. In your case, it was a little more drastic because you have mutated. It is not that you look like my brothers, but more like you looking like someone from my race rather than human. Dionaius was right when he said that you are not human anymore. You might change a little more until you reach real adulthood so for now it won't stop. About you changing back... That is impossible. You will remain mutated for the rest of your life. There's no going back. I'm sorry. I still have no idea of what you are right now... I can't be sure if you'll become like one of my race completely."

Harry felt his breathing quickening as he absorbed the words. There was no going back to how he was physically. "I love you, but I didn't expect this to happen."

"I'm as confused as you, Harry, but I can't go back in time to change it. I'm so sorry... But I love you too..."

Harry laughed bitterly as he remembered about time turners, but they didn't have those in that world plus they had been destroyed in the Department of Mysteries anyway. "It's alright. I might be able to use this to my advantage. I feel more powerful and perhaps I can even use Ouraion now..."

Dianeia placed a quick kiss on Harry's lips and held his face between her hands. "Maybe it won't be so bad then, right?"

Harry joined his forehead with hers. "I'm sure it won't, but I still wonder what I am now."

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**Thanks to the reviewers: YOyo: You're scaring me! lol; and FK306 animelover**

_**Please kindly leave a Review.** _


	12. Nostalgia

Song: 'nostalgia' by FictionJunction Yuuka (album: 'Destination')

Thanks to **Menecarkawan** for beta-reading!

Insert lyrics fragment in this chapter: 'Tattoo Kiss - The Power of my Kiss' by r.o.r/s (Japanese version of the song in the anime Kaleido Star)

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**Ch. 12: Nostalgia**

Even though Janryu and Harry were feeling much better, they barely ate that night. Both still had mild fevers and needed to rest. To complicate things, the next day the village received a visit from the shadow men. Dianeia and Kroy united powers to create a secret door where they hid the others, with the exception of Janryu. The shadow creatures smelled Janryu, poked him, and rechecked him several times looking confused, but in the end, they left. Janryu seemed to be holding his breath the whole time and let it loose once they were gone. Dianeia and Kroy were also relieved to see the young vampire had passed the child testing, confirming his adulthood.

Dianeia made the secret door reappear and the young companions came out. They had to leave the village as soon as they could and Harry and Janryu were completely recovered.

"How are we going to travel this time?" Neville asked Harry.

Harry blinked and frowned: "I'm not sure about trusting ships anymore and we don't want Dianeia's magical form being seen either, but we have to leave this land... There is nothing else here. We have to finish looking for the fragments to go to the dark lord's kingdom." He turned to Dia and Kroy. "What's the dark lord's name? Everyone calls him dark lord, but no specific name. It reminds me of my world where they would call Voldemort 'He Who Must Not Be Named,' 'You Know Who,' dark lord... Still, everyone avoided saying the name."

Dia and Kroy looked at each other and then at Harry: "I don't know," said Dia truthfully.

"I know." They all looked at Soshlan. The elf-fairy seemed very knowing in many aspects. Harry already considered that Soshlan was like a combination of Hermione's knowledge and Ron's behavior. "His name is Nebureth. The Elves know it because he was born from an Elf and a human. It's the reason why Elves have been forbidding marriages with humans since some time ago. They now think that such marriages produce dark children." Soshlan looked saddened and then added. "Of course, truth is no one knows where he got his dark power from, I mean before he started kidnapping children to increase it. His power didn't come from his Elf side. That's certain."

They all stood up and the young ones, including Harry, cloaked themselves in beige hooded cloaks to leave the village. They were just out of the Inn when they found themselves surrounded by men that looked like bandits. "Well, well, well! What do we have here?" expressed one of the men. "We love travelers, don't we guys?" He looked at his own companions and they were all smirking. "They also have a beautiful girl with them! We love girls too!" The man grinned, showing that he had several broken teeth and some golden ones. The men also had beards or stubble on their faces. "Why do these hide their faces, beardless one?" he asked Kroy.

Kroy looked very uncomfortable with those men and looked at Dia, but she simply glanced back not knowing what to communicate to him. He turned to the man that had spoken: "There's no need for you to see my companions' faces if its their will to keep them hidden. They are not bothering anyone by hiding themselves."

"There's a problem, pretty lad. We've heard rumours, haven't we guys?" They all nodded and the man continued. "Rumours of a prince traveling with some companions. They are exactly eight and you are eight. They are supposed to be cloaked as they are hiding the prince, who is supposed to be young and handsome, still a child, eighteen years old. You see, we love money and there is someone paying a very nice amount to the one who brings him the child prince who has been hiding for so long."

"You already have a contradiction then," stated Kroy very sure of himself. "Yesterday we were nine, not eight. You found eight today due to a mere coincidence. Now if you'll excuse us..."

But the man wouldn't let them go. "Oh! You are just trying to confuse me with the numbers, lad! I want to see your companions' faces. Just that and we will let you go. If you are not hiding the prince then you have nothing to fear, right?"

Neville whispered to Harry: "This isn't good, Harry."

"Let's just wait. They might just let us go," Harry whispered back.

"Hey! Stop the foolishness already! We're not hiding any stupid prince. What kind of idiot would make his prince sleep in a shabby Inn like this one?" Janryu spat.

The man looked at Janryu. "Look lad, I just want to see the faces. We can go somewhere private if you prefer."

"Why don't we fight?" Nemaisse whispered behind Harry.

"We don't want to draw any attention," Soshlan answered for Harry and Harry nodded in agreement.

Luna suddenly spoke aloud making everyone place their eyes on the cloaked girl. "The heavens look so beautiful today. It's a sunny day with very few clouds. No one should quarrel or fight on a beautiful day like this. It spoils the warm atmosphere. Just listen to the beautiful song of the birds..."

Harry wanted to cover his face even more than it already was and Neville actually did lift his hands towards his own facial features under the cloak.

Kroy completely ignored what had just happened, although the men were looking confused. "Okay, we'll leave this village and enter the woods. They can show you their faces there."

The man agreed and they all walked toward the woods and entered them. Right after a few paces, the men stopped them. Harry was the first to remove his cloak followed by the others. The men studied the children and there was murmuring about all of them being children. Certainly the prince was not traveling with children himself as it was plain foolish, but...

"This one could be the prince. He is young and handsome..."

Harry looked incredulously at the bandit. "I am no prince!" One of the men grabbed Harry's face making him react violently against the touch. "You don't have to touch me!"

"Only royalty wouldn't want us to touch them!" Harry rolled his eyes at the leader's stupidity. "You are all coming with us! Even if you are not the prince we will get a nice reward for finding hidden children."

Janryu was about to get a knife out of his clothes when both Kroy and Harry stopped him at the same time. "Not yet," whispered Harry to the vampire.

Janryu scowled, but obeyed. That whole day they walked with the bandits, who had disarmed them at some point and bound the hands of all the males. They had left the females free. By evening, they were around a fire in the woods.

Dianeia had spoken to the other girls during the day. She had told them a very odd thing: "From my experience bandits, like to make females dance and sing before raping them. I have an idea."

Luna had whispered: "I can't sing." Nemaisse had concurred.

Dianeia still calmed them though: "I'll do the singing, but we have to tell the boys to charm their ears not to listen and not to look at us while we dance because we will be weaving a sleeping spell while we dance."

"How will we know the dance?" Nemaisse had asked.

Dianeia produced two white spheres from her mouth and inserted them into the mouths of Luna and Nemaisse when the men weren't looking. "Now you'll know."

Just like Dia had predicted, that night the bandits wanted the girls to sing and dance for them. Dia had already communicated telepathically with both Kroy and Harry, who was surprised when he saw he was able to hear what Dia was communicating to Kroy and he had revealed this to her. She was also surprised, but kept it a secret. It was obvious he was starting to develop abilities from the young woman's race.

Dia created a strange musical atmosphere and started her song and dance along with Luna and Nemaisse. (You can just skip the song to the next paragraph although it's short.)

_If you can believe in what you feel_

_And if you can feel in what you love_

_And if you can love what you are feeling_

_Feel in me_

_And if you and me could be together_

_This is how we'd be_

_Believe in the power of my kiss_

_Because you know It's what you're missing_

_Are you listening to me?_

_Believe in a love as true as this_

_And feel the power of my kissing_

_You are everything to me_

_If you put your trust into a dream_

_And if you can dream a fantasy_

_And if you believe in love_

_I want you loving me_

_Do you know what you've been missing?_

_It's the power of my kissing_

For a second Neville started to watch and his eyes were closing, but the others woke him. They used the distraction to break their binds. Dia moved to the music as she sung and a strange aura surrounded the three females and kept spreading reaching each of the men. The music lasted for five minutes and by the time it ended all the bandits were snoring loudly.

The group took their weapons and escaped from the bandits as quickly as they could, although Dia assured them that the men would sleep for three days in a row. Janryu found that very amusing, and the other males in their group thought it was almost scary.

As they camped in another area of the woods very far from the bandits, Harry spoke: "I didn't expect bandits to be looking for children for money too. It's sickening and it only makes it worse for children if not only Nebureth's creatures and soldiers are looking for them."

"It's not only the dark lord's minions and good people. There are bad people too." When Soshlan said, that Harry was yet again reminded of the wizarding world. It wasn't divided in Death Eaters and good wizards either. There were bad wizards that weren't necessarily Death Eaters too. The similarities were incredible and Harry found himself thinking that it was just the way worlds were.

Harry found himself aching for home. So far, he had pushed thoughts of Hogwarts to the back of his mind, but suddenly found himself thinking about Ron and Hermione, who were probably worried sick about him. He thought about Hogwarts and how he had always felt at home there. He thought of Remus Lupin and Dumbledore with the Order of the Phoenix, but then he thought of Voldemort. One thing had been Voldemort on his list, but now it was Voldemort plus Nebureth and it seemed Nebureth would have to go down first, or would he? A strange feeling crept through him, as if he could feel his own world all of a sudden. Someone was calling him. "Does anyone have a mirror?"

Luna gave him a mirror saying: "You heard the voice too, right?"

Harry suddenly remembered the dream in which instead of his reflection he had seen young Al. It had been a strange dream, but the symbolism of the mirror had to mean something. Harry looked at his face in the mirror and the image started to change making him gasp.

XxXxX

Hermione had gone to Dumbledore with her questions and the old headmaster had smiled at the smart girl. "I see that you've found out many things Miss Granger. Lemon drop?"

"No thank you, sir. I just want to know if there is a way to communicate with Harry. I have a feeling there is. You have to tell me!" The girl almost pleaded.

"There might be, there might be not." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Sir! Please don't confuse me! Is there?"

"There is always a way for everything, Miss Granger. For every problem there is a solution."

Hermione wanted to yell at the man. "I know that, but... Is there an answer to this particular problem? Did you ever communicate with anyone while you were in that world?"

"That was so long ago, Miss Granger... I'm afraid I can't remember." Dumbledore chuckled as if he had amused himself. Hermione wanted to scream.

"Please try to remember... Please!"

"There is a way," he stated sighing.

"How?"

"If I tell you, wouldn't that just spoil the adventure of finding out?"

Hermione had blinked at that, but had quickly ran out of the office after a quick 'thanks, sir.' She had once again gone to the library to look for ways of communicating between dimensions. There was little information on alternate worlds, but plenty on ways of communicating through long distances and some considered as possible ways of communicating between alternate universes. She kept rejecting all the ways she found until she found a clue: Mirrors.

After fetching Ron, both Gryffindors had secretly gone to a classroom that night with a mirror. Hermione had tried several spells to no avail, but when she tried the first of the last three spells and called Harry's name several times alternating with Neville's and Luna's her image in the mirror started to fade. An unrecognizable face appeared and she gasped: "Who are you?" The face in the mirror frowned at the question, but the bushy haired girl's face looked suddenly horrified. "Harry! What happened to you?"

Ron was also shocked. "Mate! What the hell did you do to your bloody face?"

"You look odd," stated Hermione raising her eyebrows.

"Well, thanks for a very pleasant way of starting a conversation..." Harry said feigning hurt. "I won't get into details about what happened to me. That's not important right now, I think. How did you manage to communicate?"

"By researching and almost no help from Dumbledore!" Hermione looked a little angry.

Harry laughed. "You should know how he is by now, Hermione... But wait! Did you know about him?"

"Yes! It's in the school records! He disappeared for almost a complete school year! I should ask him how he was able to finish that year when he didn't go to classes!"

"And you will probably receive a very awkward answer..."

Hermione looked angrier when Harry said that. "So are you, Neville, and Luna alright?"

"No part is missing from our bodies so far, so yes, we are alright."

"When are you going to come back, mate?" Ron asked looking troubled.

There was silence and Luna spoke softly and with a smile: "We have to defeat a dark lord."

"Over there too?" Ron frowned. "But you're still lucky!" The redhead brightened. "You're free from Snape! He's been abusing us in class like always!"

Neville looked terrified at the mention of Snape. "Is he still horrible even when Harry is not there?"

"Are you kidding? He is always horrible! Now that Harry is not here he looks in a better mood though," Ron said thoughtfully. "Harry... What happened to your hair? It looks good though, in a very strange way..."

"You'll learn eventually, but it's still me," Harry said that with a half smile, even if inside he was truly worried about his changes. "How are classes?"

Hermione and Ron looked at each other and Ron replied: "Not the same without you, mate. I'm always with Hermione and she only wants to make me study." Hermione slapped Ron's head hard gaining an 'ouch!' from him. "It's true! She is bloody insane studying!"

"That's because it's N.E.W.Ts next semester, Ron! How many times do I have to tell you?"

Harry laughed, but Neville looked horrified. "Gran is gonna kill me if I don't graduate!"

"Your grandmother is actually in St. Mungo's, Neville. Don't be alarmed. She is fine, but when she learned you had vanished from school she had a stroke." Neville looked almost on the verge of tears as Hermione said that. "But like I said, don't be scared. She is fine now, but they've been observing her a lot in St. Mungo's. Dumbledore even influenced the hospital staff to keep her there until you return. By the way, I wanted to tell you that when Dumbledore tra..." The communication started to falter at that point and the mirrors in both worlds turned normal.

"I guess the time was limited," observed Harry.

"What was she saying about Dumbledore?" Neville asked.

Harry sighed. "Do you remember that boy we saw in the recording?"

"Al?" Neville asked confused.

"That was Dumbledore," Luna said dreamily before Harry could say it himself. He simply nodded confirming what Luna stated. Neville gaped.

"So those two were from your world?" Kroy asked from behind Harry.

"Yes." The trio from Hogwarts answered in unison.

The ache Harry had felt before increased that night. He had been happy seeing Ron and Hermione, but a strange sensation encompassed him. Would he really return to his own world? What if he wasn't human anymore? What would happen? Certainly Dumbledore hadn't screwed up and mutated himself somehow while he was in that strange world, or had he? Dumbledore was indeed a strange fellow. Harry had read that phoenixes couldn't be domesticated and Dumbledore was the only known wizard with a domesticated phoenix, Fawkes. Perhaps Dumbledore had gone through strange things too while he was in that world. Harry fell asleep thinking about all those things.

XxXxX

He could feel the wind on him as he flew. He wondered when he had learned how to fly, but it came naturally to him, just like when he soared through the Quidditch pitch on his Firebolt. He kept going higher and higher and he could feel the clouds around him, but it wasn't cold at all. That was very strange as clouds were very cold indeed. He could still remember how he shivered as he traveled with Order of the Phoenix members toward Number Twelve Grimauld Place for the first time in his life. Mad Eye Moody even wanted them to keep going through the clouds when they were all freezing. If it wasn't for Tonks, they would have surely taken their time to get there...

Harry could see the beautiful red sun setting on the horizon as he started his descent, but he encountered a huge and tough looking winged unicorn. It was diamond white and had diamond white hair like Dianeia, but it was incredibly immense and had an emerald horn. Steam came from its nostrils and its eyes reddened in anger. The creature launched an attack on him, trying to stab him with its horn. They both landed on earth and kept fighting, but it was obvious who would win. Soon the emerald horn pierced his heart and Harry woke up sweating.

He got up, noticing that everyone was still sleeping except for Janryu. The vampire was draining the blood from a strange bird and noticed Harry. "Can't sleep?"

"Had a strange dream."

"Did you die in your dream?" Harry was surprised by Janryu's soft question and nodded. "I had a dream where I died too. I'm afraid I might die during this quest. I guess my fears have taken their toll on my mind giving me nightmares, but it's normal, you know?" Janryu sighed and threw the dead bird a few meters away. "Just don't think too much about it, Harry." He looked curiously at Harry and asked in a whisper: "How did you die in your dream?"

"A winged unicorn stabbed me exactly in my heart."

"Are you sure it was where your heart was?" Harry nodded as he sat down beside the vampire. "In my case, I dreamt that the dark lord pierced my chest with a fire spear. It burned me from inside and I started to get consumed by flames."

Harry looked at Janryu with a bit of fear. "I will do my best so that no one will die."

"You don't have a hero complex, do you?" Janryu asked laughing.

"Me? Of course not!" Harry winked at the vampire.

Janryu laughed a little and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Don't worry about me. Now go back to sleep and I'll do the same."

Harry gazed at the vampire thoughtfully. Janryu could act very immature sometimes, but it didn't mean that he was completely immature. In fact, the vampire was as worried about everything as everyone was and had his fears too.

XxXxX

The next day, the group left the woods after a quick breakfast. They reached a shore and Harry scanned the air before telling them that he wasn't sure about traveling by ship. Janryu looked at Soshlan. "Can you turn into a Pegasus after having watched Kroy in Pegasus form?"

Soshlan blinked and noticed everyone's eyes on him. "I've never tried a flying creature before, but I can fly so I guess so..." He was still doing some deep thinking about it.

He closed his eyes and his body started to change and, indeed, a dark yellow Pegasus copycat stood in front of them. The Pegasus flapped its wings as if testing them and nodded.

Kroy also changed into a Pegasus and Luna and Neville mounted him, while Janryu and Nemaisse mounted Soshlan. Harry wasn't sure about three on each Pegasus and Dianeia smiled at him. "It will be alright. I'll change and you can mount me."

Harry reddened a bit before saying: "But one thing are Pegasi and another is a winged unicorn... You might be seen."

"I'll cloak myself." She changed in seconds and Harry mounted her.

"Let's go! To the next country!" Harry exclaimed and the winged creatures took off with Dianeia producing a kind of Disillusionment charm on her magical creature form.

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**Thanks to the reviewers: lovenotknown, Fk306 animelover, bandgsecurtiyaw, and mscs3**

**_Please kindly leave a review._ **


	13. A Lost Duel

Author's Notes: I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot. Maybe I'm strange, but of the fics I'm currently writing I have a very soft spot for this one. It's like my special fic because it's so different. It might not produce many reviews as average per chap, but I still love writing it. Hope the few people actually reading this keep enjoying it, even though I know it's not the usual style that readers enjoy in fics. Thanks. -bow-

Beta-read by **Menecarkawan! **Thanks Mene!

----Rewrote the first two paragraphs a bit. When I re-read them after a certain review I started to laugh and fixed them a little. Hope I made them a little better now.

Song: 'Blazin' Beat' by m.o.v.e (from Initial D)

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**Ch. 13: A Lost Duel**

They journeyed over the ocean, the Disillusionment spell covering both Dianeia and Harry, but not concealing them completely. On their way Harry felt his scanner activate inside his own eyes without previous warning. It was a sudden surprise, but he stifled his gasp, avoiding alarming the others unnecessarily. A map formed in the air in front of him as a projection from his own orbs. He could see the flashing of the closest fragment and he spoke the coordinates aloud. The winged creatures understood and moved toward the indicated location, but as they approached the land they started to feel a strong chill encompassing them. Soon they had landed and there was fog and mist that diminished their eyesight. The land was very cold indeed and they didn't have the clothing required for such a place.

Soshlan, Kroy, and Dianeia recovered their human forms as soon as the others climbed down. They started their walk right away and had covered one kilometer when they found a very small town. There were merchants there and they used the opportunity to buy warm fur coats. Right after welcoming the warmth provided by the added garments they proceeded to the snow filled mountains of that country. They were about to get to the mountains when a group of at least twenty soldiers and two dark mages appeared in front of them. Harry frowned as he identified the soldiers and mages' uniforms, being reminded of the attack to the kingdom of Franya. One of the mages asked: "Are you the children from the other world?"

"Who wants to know?" Harry asked with a glare.

"The great lord Nebureth seeks an audience with you."

"Both you and I know that's a lie," Harry said with a sarcastic laugh.

"If you are not to come peacefully we will have to subdue you by force." The mage sneered.

Harry removed his sword from his scabbard and the others followed suit preparing their weapons. "SEIZE THEM!" one of the mages exclaimed and the fight started. Harry went against the soldiers swinging his sword with ease and accuracy. He was disarming every soldier without hurting any of them as these soldiers were actually human unlike the shadow men that were sent to kidnap children. Dianeia and Luna were paralyzing the unarmed soldiers while Soshlan kept knocking them with his boomerang. Nemaisse created a fog that blinded some of the soldiers and they started running not knowing where to go. Janryu easily took several down pinning them to the ground with knives and stars while Kroy imitated Janryu with very sharp scales. Neville knocked others down with very well aimed kicks and punches. In very few minutes, only the mages were left standing looking furious. Both of them united powers to create something like a summon. A spherical red and black monster with an immense mouth started to cause a vacuum effect trying to swallow them just like the one Dianeia could make, but this one was far bigger in size. Everyone tried to grab unto something trying to avoid getting swallowed.

Janryu started to growl as he was being pulled by the hole's force. His appearance started to change and he became a winged demon. Soshlan took it as a cue, invoked a sudden surge of power, and glowed before transforming into what seemed like a full fairy form. His canary yellow hair dropped and instead of looking cloud like it became straight all over his face glowing golden, but floating with the magical outburst. His insect like wings sprouted and his face changed, looking more mature instead of childish. He mounted the demon as the dark creature was able to keep itself from being swallowed and as if their minds were all connected, Nemaisse became a flowery boomerang that the fairy held firmly. He created an inmense power surge in his new form that he introduced into the flowery boomerang. They went against the vacuum and Soshlan threw the glowing boomerang causing it to hit some glowing parts of the big hole without getting swallowed, at the same time the demon shot dark blue beams from its eyes and opened muzzle at the same parts the boomerang had just hit. Soshlan drew the boomerang back like a magnet and it lost its form becoming a very worn out Nemaisse in his arms.

The force of the vacuum was weakening and Luna summoned Bijon. The giant eagle produced very strong thunderbolts that electrified the hole monster weakening it even more. At that Neville started to shoot the same spots that had been hit by the plant boomerang with his guns and Harry and Dianeia created waves of light that they threw to the inside of the vacuum. Right after the waves Kroy sent some illuminated scales to the inside of the vacuum and yelled: "TAKE COVER!"

They all spread to different sides and the hole exploded. When they placed their eyes on the area the two dark mages were gone and even the trapped and unconscious soldiers had disappeared. Kroy looked at demon Janryu, who was regaining his human form, and then at Soshlan. He frowned at Soshlan: "Is this the first time you've taken that form?"

Soshlan nodded and tried to transform back, but couldn't. "I can't go back..."

"You can do it. Try to do it gradually. Come on!" Kroy fixed his eyes on the elven fairy.

The glittery fairy closed his eyes and little by little returned to his childlike normal form with hair that looked fluffed as in a cloud effect. "I did it!" He jumped happily and then started to fly around with his transparent wings that looked like a dragonfly's.

"This is bad," Dianeia stated.

Kroy confirmed the words gaining strange looks from the children. "Very bad."

Both Dianeia and Kroy were looking at the elf-fairy. "What's bad? What did I do?"

"What we saw was probably your approximate adult form. You children are trying to evolve too fast and it's dangerous to do that! If my memory doesn't fail me you said you were not yet sixteen? You weren't supposed to be able to take that form!" Dianeia looked honestly concerned about Soshlan, but turned to Nemaisse. "Are you a shape changer?"

Nemaisse shook her head. "Not exactly. I can only turn into objects made of plants and it's limited. Turning into that boomerang was too much for me and that worsened with the energy boost Soshlan added. It's better if I transform into flowers, trees, or things that really have to do with nature rather than artificial objects. At that moment it was like our minds had become one and Soshlan's boomerangs wouldn't have been able to connect with the hit points without getting swallowed. He needed a boomerang with a conscience or something like that. Holding back was also hard work. For a second I thought I would be swallowed."

"If you had been swallowed you would be another child in the dark lord's den," Kroy said softly while looking at the ground. "That's what the monster hole they create does. When the dark lord started to capture children for the first time they took them by numbers with that method."

Harry looked pensive. He didn't know how he had produced that wave of light that he knew was weak holy magic. He bit his lower lip thinking about it, but then spoke to the others: "Let's go. We have a fragment to get."

XxXxX

They started to climb through the mountainous area, fighting the cold weather that wanted to consume them. It was difficult to keep the pace as they kept getting higher and higher. At some point, it was difficult to breathe, but they kept going until they reached the peak of one of the mountains. Harry could see that the fragment was there through the scanner that had become part of him. "It's here," he said with difficulty.

Neville felt that it called to him. He accelerated his pace surpassing his companions until he reached the point where the white fragment floated at the top of that mountain. He extended his hand towards it and it neatly floated into his palm and entered it. He glowed and shivered as a cold sensation took him, but then he started to feel warm. "It's the ice summon. Her name is Skadi, like the Norse goddess." Neville almost beamed.

Harry looked closely at his fellow Gryffindor and considered that the Neville that would go back to Hogwarts was not going to be the same Neville as before. He was sure Luna was changing too and of course, he himself was changing.

They started their climb down the mountain and halfway down, an ice dragon came flying and stationed itself in front of them roaring madly. It sent an ice beam that surprised them. Nemaisse, Soshlan, and Janryu had no time to dodge the surprise attack and were turned into ice statues.

Dianeia used her rod to produce a flametongue, but the dragon dissipated it easily. It attacked her with ice shards that came from its body and even though she created a shield in front of her, some of the shards pierced her arms, shoulders, and thighs through the warm fabric that covered her. She started to freeze immediately as the shards invaded her body, entering it. The dragon breathed another ice beam towards Luna, but Neville tried to repel it with a flame shield in vain, as he stood in front of Luna. Both were turned into ice statues.

Kroy produced some scales and set them ablaze before throwing them at the dragon, but the creature was extremely powerful and repelled the scales. It sent an ice beam at Kroy, but Kroy produced a very effective shield with his scales that managed to reject most of the beam, but part of it wasn't blocked and got in contact with Kroy's skin. Like Dianeia, Kroy started to freeze little by little. All the time Harry had been trying to summon Fenghuang in vain. For some reason he was having problems with summoning. He wasn't sure if he was even compatible anymore ever since the evolving process. He tried to create a powerful fire sphere and sent it against the ice dragon. It barely scratched it and the dragon retaliated with ice shards. Harry created his pentagon shield by swinging his sword in front of him with amazing speed. One shard broke through his left boot and entered his ankle. Harry could feel the sensation of the ice coming upwards to completely freeze his body.

A white light appeared out of nowhere and Harry yelled a name: "ANGELUS!"

The mysterious rescuer had appeared once again and he was like a flash hitting the dragon in several areas with a flaming staff. The dragon seemed confused trying to locate the attacker to no avail. Angelus used his fiery staff to char both of the dragon's eyes and the creature howled terribly at the loss. Angelus then turned to Harry: "Use the phoenix!"

"I can't!" Harry said in a desperate voice. His legs had already become ice.

"Yes you can! If you weren't compatible, they would have abandoned you. You just have to domesticate them once again. Use your strong will!" The man's deep voice was almost angered.

Harry closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could. His waist was frozen and the ice kept making its way upward. His fear was interfering with his concentration and he opened his eyes panting.

"HURRY!" Angelus yelled at him.

Harry saw the blind dragon open its mouth to send a beam at him, seemingly guided by the creature's sense of smell. The beam left the creature's mouth, but Harry raised his arms, sword held in both fists. He screamed as he accomplished the summoning of the phoenix. Fenghuang sang as it emerged looking more powerful than before and the opened beak swallowed the ice beam. The phoenix launched forward and in an immense flame completely devoured the ice dragon. It sang again triumphantly and returned to its master.

Little by little, all of the companions started to thaw. They were all trembling and had clattering teeth when they had completely unfrozen. Angelus sent a warm wave towards them that was a great relief for them all. "Who are you?" Kroy asked looking at the wingless man that floated in midair where the dragon had been before. Nemaisse and Soshlan also blinked confused, but Angelus ignored them keeping his eyes on Harry.

"I will leave now. It is not my time to join you yet, but I'll keep watching you, children from the other world." With that Angelus vanished.

"Do you know him?" Kroy asked Harry. "He looked like the paintings of the legendary Tenshi..." Kroy added looking extremely confused.

"His name is Angelus though..." Harry said looking at his boots. With a flick of his fingers, he repaired his broken left boot and looked at everyone. He then said in a depressed and somber tone: "Let's just leave this place."

Dianeia was quickly by his side. "Something the matter, Harry?"

He gave her a half smile. "It's nothing." But Harry could still feel his body changing from the inside and he was worried. He didn't want to think about what was happening to him, but it was inevitable. The changes had even interfered with his ability to summon.

XxXxX

The group had finally left the cold mountainous area and proceeded to look for the closest town. They had to eat and needed a place to rest. They all looked extremely tired and to make matters worse the evolution portal appeared in front of them once again. Harry and Janryu looked fearful, but Kroy calmed them: "It doesn't come for the same person twice." With that, Kroy looked at Soshlan. He had feared the portal would come for the elf-fairy after the display with the dark mages. "This is a record in my opinion. You are probably going to be a very powerful man due to your strange mixed heritage. When will you be sixteen?"

Soshlan cowered in front of the portal as he replied with trembling lips: "Next week."

"We have to walk through it like before. I just hope it won't affect anyone else," Kroy stated before moving towards the portal. The others imitated him and soon the atmosphere was filled with Soshlan's screams. He looked as if he were convulsing. His eyes grew bigger and his hair turned golden. The fluffed hair broke and collapsed into golden strands and the face started to transform, but only partially losing some of the babyish face. There were tears streaming from the boy's eyes due to the pain. His wings sprouted and transformed from transparent into golden. They also lost the insect like form. A golden, four-sided star symbol appeared on the boy's forehead like a tattoo or a carved rune. The boy was lifted into the air and then fell violently to the ground and the portal disappeared.

Kroy picked the now taller boy up. "We have to look for a place to stay."

There was a town right behind the place where the evolution portal had appeared and they entered it. An old woman stared at them looking frightened. "They were just here a few minutes ago. They said there were children around, but no one believed them." The woman eyed them all warily. "Do not stay at the Inn. That man has sold plenty of children. Do not trust anyone. Follow me quickly."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Dianeia asked raising an eyebrow.

"Would you doubt a frail old lady?" All of them nodded and the old woman laughed. "That's good, but you can feel my heart." She grabbed Neville's hand and placed it on her chest.

"I think we can trust her," said Neville not understanding why he could feel so sure about it.

Harry quickly said: "I believe Neville."

The old woman escorted them fast towards a small house. She provided them with food and prepared a bed for Soshlan looking curiously at the boy. She couldn't help her curiosity. "How old is he?"

"Not yet sixteen," replied Neville.

"Why did he evolve then? Trying to become a man too fast can bring terrible consequences."

Harry seemed confused. "Why is that, when marriage is allowed from age fifteen? Doesn't being married turn you into an adult?"

The old lady looked at him strangely. "You can marry at fifteen, but it doesn't make you an adult. It's also unusual for children to marry so young. They prefer waiting. You are also an evolved child, but a very strange one. Did you combine with someone who wasn't of your same race?" Harry lost all colour from his face at the question and the old woman smiled. "Ohohohoho! You are very precocious children indeed, but what you did was one of the worst sins. A human, even if he is a mage should never combine with a magical creature, child. You evolved too because you mutated, but... If you had been a normal human, nothing would have happened. You must be a very powerful mage to be able to combine. Did you do it on purpose?" Harry shook his head. "It's irreversible, boy. Remember that."

During dinner, they learned that the old woman's name was Safsla. She spoke to them about many things and told them stories about Al and about the many legends they had. She also spoke about the legendary Tenshi and noticed how they all stared at her as she described the man and how he would appear out of nowhere to help Al when the boy and his companions were in trouble. One day, Tenshi had simply joined them only to die in the end. Luna asked Safsla how Tenshi died, but like Dianeia had said to Harry before, no one knew.

"How do they know he died then?" Nemaisse asked interested.

"They just know. He died in the fight against King Beliaphest. Turned into nothingness. There wasn't even a body to bury." They were all silent and Safsla suddenly laughed. "You are very interesting children indeed. There is a very pure heart within your group. Protect the pure heart at all costs for someone will want to claim it in the near future."

"Do you know who the pure heart is?" Janryu asked concerned.

The old woman laughed. "I can only feel it, but I cannot identify who has it."

Harry started to analyze the group and thought that when it came to pure hearts it had to be a girl, probably Nemaisse who was the youngest and probably the most innocent. He would keep an eye on her.

XxXxX

In the morning, Soshlan awoke feeling refreshed. He wrapped a blanket around his naked body after exploring it with his eyes and went to a mirror to see himself. "I look so different! Not even my parents will be able to recognize me! I like my new hair though... What's this?" He touched the four-sided golden star that adorned his forehead. He almost jumped when a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Runes and tattoos are always a sign of great special powers hidden beneath," Kroy stated. Soshlan could see Kroy's image in the mirror and nodded at it instead of looking directly at the man.

"Let's get ready," suggested Harry.

They prepared and after a quick breakfast that Safsla gave them, they abandoned the small house. It was a very foggy morning, but they used the fog for their own benefit. It cloaked their departure from that town. Even so, they were wearing hooded cloaks as they were going to board a ship this time. It was dangerous to use flying constantly and it was evident that they had been detected last time. Their fight against a group of the dark lord's men was enough proof.

The walk was tedious in the fog, but Harry wanted to avoid the use of magic. It was better if they looked like a group of common human travelers rather than mages able to Apparate. They kept their walk until the fog started to magically scatter, revealing them.

"There's someone there," pointed Luna towards a spot ahead of them. There was a tall person standing there, his incredibly long hair moving majestically with the wind as the fog revealed his form. The man was dressed in a pale ice blue tunic and pants of the same colour. There was a sword in a scabbard on his waist, which was tied over a golden cloth, and he removed the sword, lifting it upwards. The man had a golden scarf around his head that almost dropped to his eyes.

Dianeia paled and whispered: "Zheylks."

"Your big brother?" Kroy looked very startled. "Why is he here?"

"LEADER CHILD FROM ANOTHER WORLD! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!"

Harry was taken aback. "Does he mean me?" He asked sounding almost scared. Dianeia nodded at Harry, which wasn't very reassuring for him.

"Please Zheylks!" The young woman pleaded. "Don't do this!"

"I saw it in Dionaius' mind, Dianeia! He tried to block it in vain! If the one called Harry is man enough to want you then he should show me that he is indeed capable of taking care of you!"

The whole group was alarmed and they all looked at Harry. Harry regained some of his courage and started to approach the older man. "What do you want from me?" he asked valiantly.

"I don't want pathetic little boys with my sister! My sister needs a man, not a wimpy boy! You will show me if you are a real man now!"

Harry's eyes hardened. The man was indeed insulting him. "Wimpy boy?" Harry removed his sword from the scabbard on his back and prepared himself for the duel.

Zheylks smirked at Harry. "That's more like it. IT STARTS!" The man exclaimed and moved extremely fast towards Harry, but the younger man moved his sword just in time in the defensive to stop the blow from hitting. "I won't go easy on you." Zheylks told the boy as their swords were crossed. Harry replied with a glare. In the closeness, he could see silvery orbs with an emerald border.

The white haired man removed the sword and thrust it, aiming at Harry's neck, but Harry blocked again. Still, Harry felt blood forming from a scratch on his face. Even when he blocked the man had managed to scratch him. Zheylks separated the sword again and started to swing it with ease at Harry, Harry always blocking every blow, but scratches were forming everywhere on his body. He had three cuts on his right arm, one on his left shoulder, one on his right side, and one on his left thigh. Zheylks started to speak in raspy whispers. "You are no man. You are a child. It's as simple as that. You can protect no one with your lack of ability to defend yourself. At this rate, she will die protecting you and I cannot allow that. You have to become a real man. Now we'll duel in magical forms."

Harry's eyes went wide as he kept trying to land his sword on Zheylks in vain. On the contrary, he managed to get two additional cuts on his body. This time on his left side.

All of a sudden, there was a blinding light and Harry saw a winged unicorn of great size coming at him. He was reminded of his dream as he saw the emerald horn. The size of the animal reminded him of Beauxbatons Abraxan winged horses. He tried to use his sword against the creature, but the creature dodged and hit him with its head with such force that Harry flew ten meters. He landed badly scratched and with a twisted ankle and felt a strong voice in his mind. "TRANSFORM! YOU CANNOT EXPECT TO DUEL ME IN HUMAN FORM!"

Harry felt pain all over his body and his voice came out broken when he screamed: "I DON'T HAVE A MAGICAL FORM! I'M A HUMAN!"

The creature came and almost trampled him as it spoke horribly loud to Harry's mind again. "YOU ARE NO LONGER HUMAN, PATHETIC BEING! YOU HAVE A MAGICAL FORM! TRANSFORM!"

"I CAN'T!" Harry screamed, blood spurting from his mouth and this time there were angry tears coming from his eyes as the animal pointed at his heart with its horn, one of its front legs on Harry's stomach.

Dianeia yelled: "YOU'RE KILLING HIM! STOP THIS ALREADY!"

Zheylks transformed back to human form and wrapped his golden headband over his emerald gem, then pointed at Harry with his sword. "Are you crying on me?" The man scowled. "Nothing but a baby." He removed his sword, but didn't help Harry stand. "Next time we duel you will use your magical form. Next time also I want to duel a man, not a wimpy boy. Become a man, Harry. Only then will I be able to accept you." Zheylks saved his sword in his scabbard and walked away disappearing into the fog.

Dianeia came running to Harry's side and cradled him as she started to use healing magic on him. Luna did the same and Nemaisse summoned magical leaves that she started to place on Harry's external wounds as the other females healed his internal damage. Dianeia started to smile weakly to Harry's amazement. "Why do you smile?" he asked, his voice coming with difficulty.

"Zheylks likes you," she stated almost happily.

Harry coughed and Soshlan spoke the words Harry would have said aloud in a very sarcastic tone: "Now that's the way I wish someone would like me! By wanting me dead!"

"It's a very strange way of showing it," Janryu said with a raised eyebrow.

Kroy laughed and intervened. "The thing is that in our races an older brother only challenges a suitor for one of his sisters if he thinks the suitor is worthy of his sister. The fact of him challenging Harry to a duel means that he wants to accept Harry, that he thinks Harry is worthy, thus, he actually likes Harry. That's why he wants to make Harry become a man even if it is in a very rough way."

"What happens if he doesn't like the suitor?" Luna asked very interested.

Dianeia replied: "The older brother ignores the suitor and that is dishonorable. It's a way of spitting in the suitor's face. Normally the suitor will break the engagement. Others will challenge the older brother then to try to demonstrate their worthiness. Usually that duel is to the death. That's why the norm is for the suitor to simply break the engagement. They don't want to risk their lives for a woman..."

"You come from a very strange race then," Neville said with a smile. "I'm glad I haven't fallen for someone of your race..." He added thoughtfully making everyone laugh, including a pale looking Harry.

"I am always the one to draw problems to myself like a magnet, Neville," Harry said with a faint smile, but groaned as he still hurt from the mess he had become after having dueled Zheylks. He definitely wasn't looking forward to the next duel, but that wasn't what bothered him the most. What bothered him the most was what Zheylks was expecting from him, insisting on him to transform into a magical form when he certainly couldn't.

* * *

**Thanks to lovenotknown and bandgsecurtiyaw for your reviews!**

_**Please Review. **_


	14. They Eat Men

Originally beta-read by Menecarkawan and then throughly revised and edited by Bella.

Song: 'Around The World' by M.O.V.E (from Initial D)

* * *

**Ch. 14: They Eat Men**

As soon as they were inside the ship, Kroy and Dianeia helped Harry into a room and placed him on a bed. Even with all the healing spells they had used on him, he had to rest because he was strained and worn out after his fight with Zheylks. Kroy looked at Dianeia and shook his head after Harry was deeply asleep "This is too strange. His appearance has kept changing gradually, but I think it has almost stopped at last. I do hope your people will accept you with him..."

The young woman sighed. "That's the least of my worries right now. My first worry is still Nhuriel. Harry is strong and I'm sure he'll cope with his changes. I will cope with being exiled if it ends at that, but if I make sure my baby brother returns to my parents safely it will all be worth it."

Kroy nodded and smiled at the young woman before casually asking "What do you see in Harry?"

Dia took a deep breath. "I see a young man fighting for his life, fighting to have a normal life back. He craves a normal life like a plant craves water and sunlight. He has had a hard life full of bitterness, cruelty, and burdens upon his shoulders that he never wanted. He has been forced to grow up abruptly and he needs lots of love. I can read him so easily... Even though I've never asked him I know that he grew up without a mother."

"How do you know so much about him?" Kroy asked looking amazed.

"It's like our minds have somehow... connected."

"You two did become one then... That's very strange indeed. I envy him..." Dia raised an eyebrow. "Don't mean to scare you by saying that" Kroy winked at her and laughed. "I really think he needs you."

XxXxX

Janryu was beside Neville looking at the waves. Neville looked ill. Even though it was the third time they'd been on a ship, he was getting seasick. He had gotten a little seasick on the previous occasions they were at sea for days, but this time, even though they had only been on that ship for less than an hour, he was feeling awful. He gazed at Luna, who was in a conversation with Nemaisse. He then got a glimpse of Soshlan who was seated in a corner playing a tiny flute-like instrument, the new golden straight hair being messed by the sea breeze. He looked at the sea again and couldn't hold himself anymore. He retched.

Janryu blinked not looking very disgusted. He gave Neville a pitying gaze. "You alright, Neville?"

"I don't feel so good," Neville replied letting his body drop into a sitting posture. Janryu sat next to him. "I'm worried about everything and it just makes me feel worse. My gran is in hospital because of me." The boy placed his hands on his dark brown hair. "I'm stranded in this world and can't go back to her to tell her I'm alright. Sometimes I wonder if we'll survive... What if I die here and my gran is unable to find out?"

"Don't think about it," Janryu stated seriously. "Just think about keeping yourself alive and have faith in being able to return to your world once everything is over. I'm sure you'll survive." Janryu lowered his face, as if stating that perhaps he wouldn't be as lucky. Every day he wondered if he would survive.

Neville had indeed tried not to think much about anything, but it was impossible. There was fear nesting in the depths of his mind. He was also worried about Harry having found love in that world. Certainly Harry couldn't plan on taking Dianeia with him to Hogwarts, right? There was also Luna, and Neville felt that he had to protect her at all costs. She was everything Mr. Lovegood had, a situation similar to his with gran. It was strange, but the three of them were an only child respectively. Harry was the last of the Potters. He suddenly felt like smiling. Maybe things weren't so bad after all. Harry was the one who had it worse because he had to vanquish two dark lords. It made Neville wonder if he and Luna would also have to help Harry vanquish He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He had always thought that was a burden for Ron and Hermione to carry as Harry's best friends. Something removed him from his thoughts unexpectedly. He saw something white floating beside the ship and stood up.

"What?" Janryu asked him.

"I saw him!"

"You saw who?"

"Angelus!" Neville ran to the other side of the ship and placed his hands on the rail. He looked from side to side, but there was nothing. He could see the water below, feel the wind on his face, and see nothing but water on the horizon. He couldn't see above him because the midday sun blinded him.

Janryu joined him looking everywhere. "I don't see him... Are you sure you saw that strange guy?"

"I'm completely sure... He does always seem to know where we are, doesn't he?" Neville asked Janryu feeling sure of himself. The vampire nodded.

The ship started to tremble and Neville lost his balance and fell on Janryu. His startled face fixed on the vampire's and he asked "Fiend?"

Janryu's eyes hardened. "I believe so."

Both young men stood and were joined by Nemaisse, Soshlan, and Luna. Neville was suddenly nervous as Kroy, Harry, and Dianeia weren't with them. He was no leader and he wondered if Janryu would take leadership at that moment, but the vampire looked at him instead as a giant eel, like the one they had fought before, emerged, but this eel was of the electric variety.

"None of my summons will work on this one," Luna sighed as she studied the monster and performed a scan. Certainly it would be a waste of time to use a water or lightning summon. The girl finished analyzing the monster with her scanner and frowned. "No readings!"

Nemaisse raised her hand, a tree branch emerging from it, but as the branch tried to creep upward through the fiend's body, it turned itself into pure electrified water, defying gravity. The branch simply went through it and Nemaisse drew it back into her hand. She shrieked as the monster sent a lightning bolt at her and she fell to the floor convulsing under the bolt. Luna quickly used healing magic to save the younger girl.

Janryu sent a strong firebolt at the monster, but it retaliated by pouring a wave of acid-like water at Janryu. The vampire barely dodged and hissed as some of the acid destroyed part of his right sleeve. Luna quickly poured a potion over the injured arm. She was functioning better as a medic rather than fighting the monster.

Soshlan sprouted his wings, flew a few feet above the floor, and closed his eyes, making the star shaped rune on his forehead glow golden. He joined his hands as if praying and as he separated them, a sphere-shaped light expanded. When it was as big as the monster's head, he threw it at the fiend. The light hit and weakened the creature, but it roared and spat acid water on Soshlan. The elf-fairy dodged it, but the eel went berserk spitting at the boy and he had to keep on dodging. He looked at Neville pleadingly. "Do something! I won't be able to dodge every time!"

Neville raised his left hand. "Skadi! Help us!" The ice summon came from Neville's left palm. She was of a crystalline blue colour and was dressed in a crystalline coat. She removed a hood from her head, sparkling blue hair floating eerily. She removed an arrow from the quiver on her back and placed it on her ice bow. The arrow was shot and went through the eel. Neville thought it would come out through the eel's other side, but it didn't. The eel started to freeze at a rapid pace and was soon an ice statue. Skadi shot a second arrow with a smile forming on her lips and the second arrow caused a crack to form on the frozen eel. It crumbled and became nothingness on the seawater. The summon bowed courteously in front of her master and entered through his chest.

"That was amazing!" Soshlan exclaimed landing on Neville's side and saving his shining wings.

Neville looked at the others and saw Luna and Nemaisse smiling at him while Janryu gave him a thumbs-up sign. He felt really happy and suddenly considered that perhaps he was indeed going to survive in that world somehow. He would return to his gran safely and maybe she would be really proud of him just like she was when she learned he had been in the Ministry of Magic fighting Death Eaters at the end of 5th year.

He looked back as he felt people clapping behind him and his friends. Not only were there passengers clapping, but Kroy, Dianeia, and even a weak-looking Harry were there too.

XxXxX

On the third day of their travel by ship, Neville found himself with Harry. Harry looked very worried about something and kept frowning and sighing. "What's wrong Harry?"

Harry looked at Neville with a surprised expression and then saddened. "I don't know what to do. I can't get Zheylks' words out of my mind. He told me that next time he wanted me to transform into a magical creature for our duel, Neville. I can't transform! I'm not a magical creature!"

"Did you tell Dianeia?"

"I've been keeping it from her to tell you the truth, but I believe she heard her brother. Still, she hasn't mentioned any of it."

"Maybe you can transform... If he said that it's because you can," Neville stated thoughtfully.

"How? I don't feel like I can transform into anything, Neville! At this rate I'll die miserably in our next duel."

"Maybe you can try it like Animagus form?" Neville suggested, thinking hard.

Harry blinked at the question. "As an Animagus form?"

"Yes. Maybe you can transform as if it were an Animagus form..."

"Neville... There are no magical Animagus forms, remember? They are all common animals."

"Harry, you are forgetting that you are no longer human. Human wizards may only get common animals as Animagi forms, but you have mutated. You can probably transform into a magical creature now. You may try applying the Animagus transformation concept to transform." Neville smiled at Harry.

Harry looked curiously at Neville. "Maybe you're right, Neville. Maybe you're right. Problem is we didn't study much about Animagus transformations..."

"You'll have to improvise I guess," Neville shrugged, laughing a little.

XxXxX

Four more days passed and they finally arrived to a strange tropical looking island. They disembarked and started their journey, Harry quickly scanning the land to check if there was a fragment there. Soon enough he saw the image in front of his eyes. There was a fragment in the deepest depths of that small land. They continued walking until they got to a strange area with stone walls inside a deep forest. The stone walls were full of vines that slowly started to remove themselves and opened the walls making an entrance as some sort of invitation for the travelers.

"I don't like this," Kroy stated. "I don't like this at all. Can't we go find another path?" he asked, glancing at Harry.

Harry shook his head. "This is exactly where the fragment is. We have no choice but to enter this place whether we like it or not."

"I have a very bad feeling about this place. It gives me chills!" Soshlan exclaimed looking wary.

A woman dressed in pearly robes came out of the opened walls. She was young and beautifulwith golden brown hair that cascaded down to her hips. The woman smiled at them before introducing herself. She kept eyeing the males and barely looked at the females. "My name is Kharainne. Welcome! I see that you have hesitated even though we opened the walls for you. Why is that?" The woman had the voice of a seductress.

"Are you saying that we are cowards?" Janryu spat the words in a very disrespectful manner.

"Of course not, handsome. You may enter after me, if you dare." She winked at Janryu and he sneered.

Janryu started the walk first, followed by the rest, but Harry stayed behind studying the walls. He had a bad feeling the walls would close after the last of them entered and he was right. As soon as he entered the walls sealed themselves, but he knew he had to keep going because the fragment was there.

Harry and his friends were startled when they saw that the place was full of beautiful women. Some were dressed like Greek goddesses while others were scantily dressed. The-Boy-Who-Lived averted his eyes from the scantily clad women. He needed to be in his right mind if anything happened.

Many women surrounded them and Neville seemed to be the one receiving the most attention. Some touched his face and hands while other women caressed his clothing and hair. Neville looked at Harry feeling terrified and not knowing what was wrong with those women. Janryu blinked, thinking that he had to be in paradise, but Soshlan looked as terrified as Neville. Kroy had a very serious expression and his gaze kept hardening with every second that passed. He whispered to Harry. "Look for the fragment because we have to leave this place as soon as we can. I don't like this at all, especially the obvious lack of males in here **–** as in nonexistent."

Harry nodded at the half Draconian's words. The woman that welcomed them then approached Harry and touched his face. "You are a bonded one." At those words, the women avoided Harry and kept studying the supposedly non-bonded males.

Harry whispered to Dianeia "What does she mean by bonded?"

"She meant that she believes you are married."

Harry understood and grabbed Dia's hand. She gripped harder to reassure him and the queen, or the one they were already thinking was the queen Kharainne, spoke. "What do you seek?"

"We are in search of a summon fragment. We only wish to obtain it and leave," Harry replied.

"Oh! But you can stay for a few days! It's unusual for us to receive visits and we've been desperate as we are in need of children."

"Children?" Harry asked confused.

"Yes. As you can see, we have no men here so we were in desperate need of men to procreate. I hope you will help us with this dilemma..." There was desire in the woman's eyes.

Harry saw Soshlan trembling as two of the women kissed his neck and two others nuzzled his ears. Kroy kept pushing women away from him as they kept trying to touch him Janryu seemed to like the attention though Neville looked like he could cry as the women kept touching him too. He looked at Harry with a pleading expression. "Could your women please stop groping my companions?" Harry asked as politely as he could.

Kharainne looked Harry up and down almost wantonly and snapped her fingers. The women quickly left the young men alone. Neville and Soshlan breathed sighs of relief, Kroy kept his hardened features, and Janryu shrugged.

Harry scanned and saw that the fragment was in what seemed like a bedroom. He almost wanted to curse aloud, but spoke to the queen. "Can I get the fragment?"

"Sure! But I already stated the conditions. We want children in exchange for the fragment. We are in desperate need of your companions."

"What if I refuse?"

"Then no fragment for you. Simple." The woman winked at him and Harry felt a horrible sensation in his stomach. "I can change things a little though. It seems my girls like the well built one. The others are kind of skinny. We enjoy our males to have more skin and fat rather than bony or muscular frames. Can we have him in exchange for the fragment?" Kharainne pointed at Neville, who from the start seemed to be the women's favorite as he kept receiving the most attention and glances.

"I can't do that. I will leave the fragment then."

"So righteous, are we? You only have to yield one of your companions. Why can't you do that?"

"Because he is my friend and I would never abandon any of my companions anyway. We're leaving."

"Wait! Just... Just have dinner with us first and then you may leave."

Harry looked at the others and they all shrugged. He wasn't sure about having dinner with people he did not trust, but his friends seemed calmer after the women left them. "Alright, just for dinner, but you'll let us leave peacefully, right?"

"Of course!" Kharainne answered with a seductive smile.

The travelers were escorted into an extended hall with a giant table. There was dinner already served and his companions started to eat although he was afraid of touching the food. "It is not poisoned... I'm eating it. Want me to taste the food from your plate to convince you?" Kharainne snapped her fingers and several women tasted the food from all the plates of Harry's companions and Harry thought that was enough to start eating. Kharainne tasted the food from his plate still, as if to reassure him.

A while later dinner was over and Harry felt very strange and dizzy. He was seeing double and saw his male companions collapsing. He also saw his female companions having their weapons removed and being arrested and taken away while he heard Kharainne's words "We'll serve the chubby one tomorrow. Make the fertile women bed the others, including the deliciously built one. I'll bed the leader one even if he's bonded. He seems powerful and worthy. I want his child."

Harry felt sick at what he was hearing. His sword was being removed at that moment. Even when he was obviously drugged, he hadn't completely lost his senses, but didn't know what to do and felt incredibly weak and helpless. He had figured something out though. The drug only affected males. That was why the women could taste the food and be unaffected. That was also the reason why they had to arrest Luna, Nemaisse, and Dia. Dia... There was no way he would fail her. He would get out of the situation no matter what, but his eyes were already closing.

XxXxX

Harry woke up tied to a bed. He was still under the drug influence, but kept trying to keep his senses and alertness. He hoped he wasn't too late for his friends. He tried to break the binds, but the drugs interfered with his magic. He cursed under his breath and a voice spoke in his ear. "You truly are something! Even drugged you don't lose yourself. Maybe I should add some wine..." Harry felt his hair being pulled to stabilize him on the pillow and his mouth being opened forcefully. Kharainne was obviously not alone in that room and they poured the liquid into his mouth. He started to thrash with the binds, but the wine kept entering his mouth. "Maybe we can keep him and use him for a while. We can feed him a lot so he'll make a good meal later on" Kharainne scoffed mockingly and the other women present laughed.

"Go to hell!" Harry blurted, spitting remains of wine from his mouth.

"Leave girls. I'll bed him now." The girls left and she caressed Harry's face. "Why are you so stubborn? Stop fighting and things will be much easier."

"You will never have me."

"We'll see about that..."

Harry felt the woman trying to remove his clothes and as weak as he was he managed to activate power and electrified her. She screamed and slapped him. "STOP THAT YOU FOOLISH BR..." Harry electrified her again and kept at it until she went limp on the bed. He knew he hadn't killed her he had simply knocked her out. Panting he concentrated until he accomplished burning the binds. He got up, still feeling dizzy. The wine had made things worse and he didn't know how to completely wake himself from this unwanted state. Women entered the room because they had heard Kharainne's scream.

"What have you done, you monster!" one of them exclaimed as she glared at him.

"Monster?" Harry spat the word with disgust. "The only monsters here are all of you!" He fell on his knees, but trembling stood again to face the four women. They were furious and launched themselves at him with daggers, but he managed a spherical wave that threw them throughout the room knocking them against walls. Gasping for breath, he produced a small flame in his hand, removed part of his tunic shirt, and burned his chest with the flame. He screamed but woke himself, which had been what he had intended. Almost sober, he quickly arranged his clothes and saw the fragment floating close to him. It was exactly in that bedroom, but he wasn't sure if he could take it with him even if that summon wouldn't be his. He had a feeling it was Luna's. "Please, I need to take you with me even if I am not your master. Would you do that for me?" The fragment flickered and entered Harry, but he knew it would only be with him temporarily. He could feel that it wasn't his.

All of a sudden, Harry heard a huge roaring sound and wondered 'What was that?' He hurried to the door and it sprang open. He had to leap back to avoid a collision. There in front of him were Luna, Dianeia, and Nemaisse. He could hear the roaring sounds and women screaming outside. The fragment that had just entered him came out in seconds and entered Luna, making the girl almost lose her balance. She managed to straighten herself and smiled. "What in the world is happening?" Harry interrogated them.

"And here I thought we needed to rescue you!" Dianeia said with a smile, but she was panting as she handed him his sword.

"Are the others alright?" Harry asked with concern.

"They're fine, but still drowsy. No one will touch them though. Those women are busy with a very BIG problem." Dia put great force into the word 'big' and even extended her arms to express it. "It happened right after we escaped from those crazy females."

"How big is it? Does it affect us?" Harry swallowed as he asked.

"Unfortunately yes, it affects us. Don't worry, you won't miss the problem because it's extremely big!" Dianeia sounded nervous by that point as she gestured again with her hands about the magnitude of the problem.

Harry thought rapidly and heard the 'roars' even more. "It's not Kroy, right?" Harry asked hopefully, but with a troubled expression.

Nemaisse laughed nervously at that and Luna's protuberant eyes were almost gleaming. "He is gorgeous. You should see what he looks like."

Harry muttered several curses that made the females flinch before asking "Does he recognize us?"

"He is still drugged so... no," Dia replied with a pitiful sigh.

"How did they manage to unleash him?" The girls shook their heads. "Anyway, we have to stop him! Come on!" Harry ran out the door with the women running closely behind.

* * *

**Thanks to: YOyo - You reappeared! Thanks for your criticism; lovenotknown - I already replied to you with a logged reply, ehehe, and bandgsecurtiyaw - I always have to re-check if I wrote your nick correctly. lol **


	15. The Sprouting Wings

Author's Notes: The word 'Androktonians' was derived from the Greek word 'Androktones' which means 'killers of men'. Please don't flame me for what happens in this chapter! There are hints in the scene! I don't know, but I laughed writing it, but that's because I'm a bit sadistic. Er... Forget I wrote that.

Thanks to **Menecarkawan **for beta reading! You're awesome! And best of all, you haven't quit on me!

Song: 'Dogfight' by m.o.v.e (From Initial D, I think)

* * *

**Ch. 15: The Sprouting Wings**

Harry stopped with wide eyes as he saw the spectacle before him. There was a roaring and glowing blue dragon flying over the small female populated city. It was even bigger than the ice dragon they had fought. He could see that the dragon was the colour of Kroy's glowing eerie blue eyes. He hadn't expected to see a dragon that glowed, but that was the least of his worries. He dodged along with the females as the dragon spat fire at them. "This is truly a big problem," Harry stated, still startled by what he was seeing.

Luna was smiling and had dreamy eyes. "Isn't he beautiful?"

"I don't care whether he is cute or ugly, Luna. We have to stop him!" Harry exclaimed, wondering to himself how in the world they would accomplish stopping the creature when they had been almost defeated by a smaller dragon before.

The blue dragon surprised them by spitting water instead of fire at some of the city's women. Harry blinked at that and Dia, as if reading Harry's mind, quickly clarified: "It possesses all the elements."

"We have to cage him and somehow restrain his muzzle and nostrils. It's the only way," Harry spoke and just then, he felt his legs weakening and almost fell, but Dianeia held him. "I'm still drugged," he explained weakly.

"You also have a wine stench all over you, Harry. They mixed wine with drugs?" Harry nodded and Dia frowned. "That's bad. You cannot function like this!"

Harry felt mildly angered. He didn't want Dianeia to doubt his abilities. He wouldn't look weak, at least not in front of her or anybody for that fact. He straightened himself and raised his arms. He closed his eyes as he opened his palms and let the powerful magic flow through him: "_Sanctus Ingens Claustrum!" _From his palms came binds of holy magic that surrounded the angry dragon. Little by little, the binds started shaping themselves and growing. Meanwhile, Harry kept growing weaker as he manipulated the magical binds, gesturing with his power filled hands. The holy binds formed a giant cage of holy magic in midair, but a ghastly looking Harry, with extended arms, guided it downwards. The cage landed softly on the ground and he could feel many eyes on him, but he was drained. The women from that place looked fearful. Some of the women were frozen and fellow citizens were thawing them with weak fire magic.

Harry was trembling and turned to Dia, eyes looking disoriented: "The... Muzzle... Create... Bind..." With that he passed out and Dia caught him with protective arms. She glared at the fearful women as a warning for keeping their distance from Harry. She raised her rod and created binds around the dragon's mouth and a shield over the dragon's nostrils even though the dragon had stopped breathing elements. It seemed to be calming down under the influence of the holy magic that the cage constantly emitted in a pulsating beat.

Kharainne had awoken and joined the women outside, helping in the healing of burns and unfreezing other girls. She looked at the passed out Harry cradled in Dianeia's arms. "What happened?" Kharainne asked and the other women explained. The queen was astounded by what she learned and looked at Dianeia, Nemaisse, and Luna. "Who are you people? Who are you really? Who is he? I've never seen a man able to perform such powerful magic while drugged! And I certainly know that he is not an adult yet!"

"He is from the other world..." Dianeia replied softly. "He is our leader too..."

"I understand," Kharainne replied. "I apologize for what we have done against you and thank you for stopping that dragon. Where did the dragon come from? None of you seemed from the Draconian people..."

"One of us is a half-blood," Nemaisse answered.

They all stared at the cage and the dragon started to lose its giant shape, the strains on its mouth and nostrils falling to the ground. It kept getting smaller and smaller until it started to get a human form. Kroy dropped to his knees. He was completely naked and his hair was matted to his face because he was drenched in what seemed like sweat. He was trembling and gasping as he touched his face, and then he turned to see Nemaisse, Luna, and Dia. His features held an expression of horror and then he placed his hands over his eyes in an ashamed gesture. Two women came with clothes and passed them to Kroy through the cage's magical bars and he slowly dressed. The clothes were a cream coloured long sleeved tunic and light brown pants. They provided him with fur boots also. Nemaisse and Luna approached the cage and he spoke with a trembling voice: "I don't know how it happened... Why... Why can't I remember what triggered it?" He stared at the girls with wide eyes, full of fear.

"It's alright now," Nemaisse expressed with pitying eyes. "You are you again. It's over."

"Do you want us to free you?" Luna asked with a warm smile.

"I just feel so tired," Kroy muttered and dropped onto the ground inside the cage, in deep sleep.

XxXxX

Harry was placed on a bed in what seemed to be an Infirmary. His male companions were also there recovering from their drugged state and Kroy had been also transferred after Dianeia, Luna, Nemaisse, and queen Kharainne managed to vanish the powerful giant cage by joining their magic. The first to completely wake was Soshlan and he was broken and crying non-stop. Nemaisse and Luna went to his side to try and calm him, but he wouldn't stop crying. Dianeia would have also gone to the boy if she hadn't been watching over Harry, and sending killer glares to any woman who would stand three feet from Harry's resting comfort. Dia didn't trust those women at all, even if they had apologized about a thousand times by that point.

"I don't remember anything!" Soshlan exclaimed, sobbing. "I only remember seeing myself naked at some point and nothing else! What have they done to me?"

"It's alright, Soshlan. They already said they had no time to do anything to any of you because of Kroy," Nemaisse spoke tenderly while Luna massaged Soshlan's shoulders a little. The boy started to calm down, but kept hiccupping all the while. He entangled his hands on his golden hair, trying to stifle the headache that had begun with his recovery.

Janryu stirred and opened his eyes. He suddenly cringed and got an all fours on the bed scanning the bedroom. He was completely alert, but relaxed as soon as he saw his female companions there. "What happened? I won't leave any stranded kids in this place, right?" The vampire had been drugged too, but he had understood part of what had been happening all the while.

"No, you won't," Dianeia replied from Harry's bedside, wearing a very serious expression.

"Good," the vampire answered, feeling relaxed.

Neville woke up next and Luna went to his side and spoke to him in whispers. Neville kept nodding with saddened eyes. He still couldn't believe those women had originally planned to eat him.

After a few hours, Kroy woke before Harry. The citizens from that place confessed that as Kroy was the oldest he was the first to be stripped of his clothes, but he reacted badly to the removal of his garments. He had started thrashing and had easily ripped the ropes that bound him to a bed. After that, he had gone berserk and fifteen women had tried to restrain him and used magic against him. The magic backfired as Kroy went hysterical as he was being attacked. It was like his body wanted to defend itself on its own even if the mind wasn't completely aware of what was happening. One of the women used a whip and tied it around Kroy's neck thinking she would accomplish taming him, but it had the opposite effect. Kroy growled and started glowing. He tore the whip with a scaly and strengthened neck, and ran naked out of the bedroom and transformed outside. That had been when the chaos and the screams had started.

The women were now fearful of both Harry and Kroy. Harry's still powerful display under the influence of both wine and drugs had scared the wits out of them. Even if he was unconscious, they somehow feared that Harry could turn into a dragon or something worse if attacked.

Kharainne approached Dianeia and sat at Harry's other side. Dia looked immediately uncomfortable and wary, but the queen tried to calm her. "I won't try stealing him from you. Although I do wonder why you have bonded with him when you are both children..."

"I'm not..."

"Not a child? No, of course not," Kharainne stated with a bit of sarcasm. "In human years you are an adult, I know. But the same does not apply to your race, does it? How old are you really in comparison to a human of your age?"

"That is none of your concern," Dia replied angered.

"You are keeping secrets from him. You should tell him the truth."

"I'm twenty-two years old!" Dia justified.

Kharainne laughed and shook her head. "He will find out sooner or later. You can't even bear children of your own yet, child. You are less than a teenager."

"How do you know that?" Dianeia asked looking shocked. It was true that she couldn't have children, but she thought that to be an advantage in many ways. Even if in that sense she was not a complete woman that didn't mean she was a child either. Certainly not at her normal age.

"I have an ability to sense fertility and I know that you lack it. I cannot figure your race, but I know that you are not a common human. At what age will you be able to have children?"

"Stop this! I already told you it's none of your concern! Do you want to lower me in comparison to you just because I cannot bear any children yet? I'm not interested in bearing children either. It would only hinder me and my ability to help my companions. Don't you dare try to make yourself superior because you are not. I'm as much of a woman as you are." Dia tried to remain calm, but she was burning with hatred against that queen from the inside. The sooner they could leave, the better.

"I didn't want to offend you. It's strange to find a female that doesn't care about fertility, but I'll respect your way of thinking. You have a point when you express that being pregnant you wouldn't be able to help him." Kharainne pointed her hand at the still sleeping Harry.

Harry started to wake right after the small exchange between the two women and straightened as soon as he noticed Kharainne, but Dia placed calming hands on his shoulders. "It's alright. She won't attack you." Harry looked at Dia and breathed a sigh of relief. "How do you feel?"

"As if I crashed into a brick wall on my Firebolt. I have a horrible headache..."

Dia raised an eyebrow and then showed worry in her pink orbs. "Flying on a firebolt? I think you might still be a bit drugged."

Harry started to laugh, realizing what he had just said and why Dia was confused. "When I said Firebolt, I meant my flying broom in my world, not a firebolt in a literary sense."

"Okay, now I guess you are indeed sober," Dia laughed.

XxXxX

The stone walls that encased the small city of females were open for the travelers to leave in the morning. They decided against having breakfast, not trusting those women at all. Harry had suspected they wanted to at least get Neville in some way and he wouldn't allow it. After they had already left the odd city, Janryu spoke a question aloud: "What do they do with the old women and what do they do if they get male babies?"

Kroy hardened his glowing blue eyes. "I believe they send the old women away, scattering them through towns. Old women would only chase their male morsels away. About male babies, my only guess is that they eat them too."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Luna suddenly stated before placing her right arm against a tree with her forehead against said arm. She threw up bile, as there was nothing in their stomachs yet. Neville softly rubbed her back. "How can they kill their babies?" Luna asked with teary eyes.

"It's just a guess," Kroy tried to clarify what he had said. "Maybe they send them away somehow..."

Soshlan shook his head though. "They don't. What you said first is the truth. I had a bad feeling yesterday when we got to that place, but wasn't able to confirm my fears until later. I'm glad we were able to get out of there alive. That was a tribe of Androktonians. They kill men and eat them after using them for reproductive purposes. The man thinks he is in a paradise full of beautiful young women only to end up being devoured."

Neville was in deep thought and needed to ask the question that had risen in his mind to free himself of doubt or he would go mad: "Why did they want to eat me? I am not well built as they referred to me. Kroy and Janryu both have strong, better built bodies with actual muscles..."

"Because when they spoke about being nicely built they didn't mean muscles. They meant..." Soshlan went silent as if afraid of insulting Neville.

"You can say it..." Neville said, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't really very fat, but he knew perfectly well what Soshlan had been about to say. "They meant fat, right?" All of them laughed in a nervous way, including Neville himself. Still, the group's slight moment of peace ended abruptly when some gas started to surround them. "What is this?" Neville reacted.

Harry's eyes went wide and he yelled: "RUN!"

They all started running. Harry had somehow realized that it was sleeping gas, but he had no idea if the Androktonians were behind it. He had a feeling they weren't. This was someone else trying to get them, probably bandits who had dedicated themselves to capturing children.

They ran through the woods as fast as they possibly could. None of them stopped until they had reached a village that was very close. Panting, Harry looked at his companions, but was taken aback as he counted seven, including him, instead of eight. He counted again and said the names aloud: "Dia, Kroy, Neville, Luna, Janryu, and Soshlan." He gasped. "Where's Nemaisse?"

The others looked around and at their own faces. Kroy shook his head. "We've lost her. It seems that she never got here with us."

"We will go back," Harry said very sure of himself.

"Are you mad?" Kroy asked him, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "We can't go back! She has probably been captured!"

"I won't leave anyone!" Harry exclaimed, shoving Kroy's hand away. He knew that in part, Kroy was right, but at the same time he felt guilty. Nemaisse had been in that kingdom of Franya and even if the kingdom had been attacked, he felt that the girl joining them had been entirely accidental. He couldn't leave her behind. "We won't go back, but we will ask in the village for possible places where there are bounty hunter caravans. We'll somehow rescue her."

"Can we eat first?" Janryu asked almost pathetically.

Harry nodded. As worried as he was about Nemaisse, he couldn't sacrifice the others by not letting them at least have breakfast. "We might be able to get something to eat in this village," he stated, not really feeling like eating.

They entered a small diner wearing cloaks over their heads. No one asked them any questions as they ordered some food and nourished themselves. Harry paid for the food they consumed and went to different people asking them questions. Most villagers avoided the travelers and fled as soon as they tried to approach them, but some listened and shook their heads at the questions. They weren't getting anywhere at that rate, but a ray of luck struck them. They saw the townspeople running everywhere and hiding in shops and houses, so they acted in the same way. A sensation of deja vu hit Harry as they ended up in trees, watching silently as a caravan entered the village. Soshlan gasped and Kroy, who was closest to the boy, covered the elven fairy's mouth. The caravan was composed of dirty looking bandits like the ones they had encountered before. They had a small group of children with metallic bands around their necks. The bands were attached to chains and the chains were attached to the enclosed carriage that was pulled by horses. Among the children was Nemaisse. The nymph kept looking around as if searching for her friends. She was the reason why Soshlan had gasped.

Harry remained calm as the bounty hunters entered different shops. They bought food and gave each child a small piece of stale bread. Harry felt disgusted by the sight and almost wanted to jump from the tree and go against those men, but tried to wait a little. The problem was Janryu didn't wait. He transformed into his black winged demon form and went against the caravan. Harry cursed before also jumping and the others followed.

Janryu shot beams at the bounty hunters and set two of them on fire, but one of the bounty hunters was a mage that quickly rescued his mates, and to make matters even worse, another of the wicked men was a vampire like Janryu. He transformed into a winged demon of a blazing red colour and started to duel Janryu in the air. Both shot beams at each other and used their claws and fangs when they entangled in physical fighting.

"This is not good at all," Kroy stated before going against one of the child hunters. The man, who Kroy knew wasn't human, removed a scythe from where it had been at his waist. He started dueling Kroy, who used his scales as a method for both attack and defense.

Soshlan quickly headed to free all the children, but was surprised by a chain that magically went against him and created a metallic band around his neck. He tried to use magic to remove it, but the band was designed to repel magic. It subdued the elven fairy, but not for long. Harry's sword cut the chain while Dianeia freed the rest of the children by performing cutting spells on all of the metallic binds.

Neville engaged himself in combat against another gun user. It was easy to see that even with less experience Neville was better and faster. In very little time, the chubby boy had managed to shoot both guns from the man's arms and the man fled, fearing that Neville's next shot would kill him.

Luna bound three human bounty hunters with invisible ropes, but the mage knocked her out with a powerful spell. Harry then went against the mage. Both used rays of light against each other, but Harry's was stronger. It swallowed the mage's attack, but the mage dodged.

A seemingly nice man opened an empty stable and called for Dianeia and Soshlan to bring the children there and so they did. They had to remove the children from the battle. The man closed the stable's door with the children inside, but the mage shot a huge flaming bolt at the wooden stable, igniting a great fire.

Harry was angered as he saw what the mage had done and performed a holy magic sphere and sent it against the mage. It crashed with the mage's head in such a fashion that when the light was gone it was obvious that the mage was headless. The body fell to the ground and melted.

Kroy used a final attack with his scales and killed the scythe wielding bounty hunter. The bounty hunter had been a werewolf. At the same time, Janryu gave a final blow to the red demon. It fell to the ground, regaining his human form. Janryu also regained his human form and set several daggers ablaze, and threw them at the enemy vampire, charring it.

Harry tried to use water magic along with everyone, right after waking Luna, but the stable's fire wouldn't leave. It was a magical fire and they didn't know how to put it out. A recently woken Luna summoned Undine as Dianeia, Soshlan, and the man tried to open the stable's door. The door wouldn't budge and Undine used her magical water waves, but the fire simply turned blue. The summon turned to Luna and shook her head. It was a strange fire that not even the water summon could defeat.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" asked Soshlan nervously, still trying to open the door.

Janryu created a powerful black sphere and yelled at Dia, Soshlan, and the man. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He shot the black sphere and it destroyed the door. He controlled it so that it wouldn't go inwards and attack the children, then he made it vanish with a movent of his right arm. The children came out running, including Nemaisse, but the stable was falling apart and two toddlers were still trapped inside.

"Kashia an Topher are still inside! They are only three and four years old!" A twelve-year-old girl informed them.

Harry was going to run into the stable, but Janryu stopped him. "I'll do it!" Janryu ran and jumped over the fallen debris to enter the stable. He got the babies and almost got to the entrance/exit when more debris fell in front of him. He had a child under each arm, but had to free them and place them under him protectively. Janryu smiled faintly and Harry saw a white light surrounding the vampire and the toddlers. Janryu closed his eyes, lowering his head, and got the children even more under him as the flaming ceiling fell on them.

Harry reacted immediately after seeing debris blocking the young vampire, wanting to get into the burning stable. He was restrained by Kroy as he saw the strange white light appear and the ceiling fall on his friend along with two very small children. His scream of anguish and despair couldn't be covered by the sound of the raging flames. "JANRYUUUUUUUUU! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Harry was wheezing as his deep sorrow triggered something in his body. Kroy had to free the boy as he was burned by the magical outburst. Harry's screams filled the air and the clothing on his back was ripped violently. Two great shiny white wings sprouted from him, dripping blood by the way in which they had ruptured through his skin. Both Dia and Kroy looked at each other. Dianeia knew it would happen sooner or later, as the mutation triggered by her kept taking its toll in the young man's body. She still wasn't sure if Harry would become like one of her kind or something slightly different. It was difficult to tell and she had never seen something like that before.

The-Boy-Who-Lived grabbed some soil in his fists and threw it away angrily. Yet again, he screamed, but there were no tears caused by both the physical pain from his ongoing changes nor from the hurt of losing one of his companions, along with two innocent lives that were never to learn about their world.

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Okay... So... Should I hide now? Eep! 

**Thanks to lovenotknown and bandgsecurtiyaw for your reviews!**

_**Please Review!**_


	16. Dangerous Methods

Thanks to my beta, **Menecarkawan!**

Author's Notes: **Phaisanny** was Al's Phoenix/Fire summon. He was mutated by the Phoenix people to be able to combine physically with that summon. It will be explained as the story goes. BTW, the Phoenix people don't possess an entirely human appearance like other magical beings. They will come up in the story later on. I just felt I needed to clarify it because this chapter might cause some confusion. Enjoy!

Song: 'This Is My Heartache' by m.o.v.e (From single Album 'Disco Time')

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**Ch. 16: Dangerous Methods**

Hermione Granger still had nightmares from what had happened when Harry's image suddenly disappeared from the mirror. She and Ron had spoken to no one about it, but the memory still haunted them. When Harry's face disappeared, another image had replaced it. A head with a black veil covering its face seemed to be staring at them, studying them. The veiled person, that had almost reminded them of a Dementor, had spoken words that had scared them, almost in a whisper that had given them chills: "I will have you... I will have you..." The person had laughed maniacally and an almost disproportionate in size lilac hand covered in warts had started to protrude from the mirror, almost grabbing Hermione's face. Both Ron and Hermione had screamed and Ron did the most sensible thing any person could have done. He took the mirror from Hermione's hand and shattered it on the floor.

The redhead and the know-it-all were left trembling and looking so white anyone would have thought they had been drained of all the blood that ran through their veins. They had stared at each other for quite some time and Ron had hugged Hermione, trying to tell her everything was fine, but unable to believe it himself. Hermione had used '_Reparo_' on the mirror a bit later, but hadn't dared try to contact Harry again.

It took weeks for Hermione to go to Dumbledore, but first she asked Professor Flitwick a question during Charms class. "Professor?"

"Yes, Miss Granger?" the teacher squeaked.

"Is it possible to use mirrors in such a magical way that you could cross worlds?"

Flitwick raised an eyebrow and looked curiously at the girl. "Many things are possible when magic is involved, Miss Granger, so yes. Even Muggles have concepts such as that in fairy tales, ignoring how true they are. May I know why you ask?" All the students fixed their eyes on Hermione looking quite confused. Ron, on the other hand, seemed determined, knowing why Hermione had asked.

"In case you are thinking I'm considering looking for Harry, no sir. You don't have to worry." No, Hermione wasn't considering trying to go through worlds herself. Her main concern was still the hand that had literally tried to grab her by coming from the mirror. Flitwick had only confirmed her worst fears. In the same way that they could contact Harry, there were ways for them to get to Harry or someone getting to them. She didn't think Harry could come out of the mirror like that, but had a bad feeling other creatures from that world could.

Hermione went to Dumbledore. She had decided it was time to tell the headmaster what had happened. She could still see that horrid hand coming at her. She hadn't imagined it. Ron had seen it too. They both had seen the hand coming out of the mirror.

XxXxX

The bushy haired girl sat in front of Dumbledore and the ancient wizard looked at her curiously. She had blurted everything and was waiting for an answer from Albus. He had paled as he listened to her story, and now he looked extremely tired. He removed his half-moon glasses and rubbed his eyes with the index and thumb fingers of his right hand. "Miss Granger... Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Yes... sir... Ron was there. He can testify to it. It was..." The words that came to her mind were horrifying, terrifying, but she changed them a little. "It was truly disturbing."

"Maybe Mr. Potter is dealing with someone much worse..." Dumbledore said as he placed his glasses over his nose and looked into an empty spot behind Hermione's chair.

"What do you mean, sir? Is it possible that that man or whatever it was could get us if we contact Harry? Why didn't you tell me that contacting Harry could be dangerous? Surely you knew, right?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I knew about the methods, but I honestly never considered anyone coming from there, which was foolish of me. If there is a way to go and there is a way to get back, there must also be a way of someone coming from there."

"I want to contact Harry, sir. I want to tell him what happened!" The girl suddenly looked terribly scared and placed her hands on her face. "What if that man got Harry?"

"I don't think he was getting Mr. Potter when he attempted to get you and Ron, but he must have noticed the connection between worlds and that, in itself, is something to worry about."

"Is there another way of contacting Harry then?"

"Water is another method. In fact, I thought you would use water the first time you came and asked for a method to communicate with Mr. Potter." The old wizard chuckled, but then frowned and went silent.

"Water sounds even more horrifying if I ever see a hand like the one I saw before coming at me again!" Hermione exclaimed sincerely. "Any other methods?"

"No, Miss Granger. There are not many. I'm sorry."

"Then what am I supposed to do, sir?"

"Simply don't contact him, Miss Granger. It's dangerous. Just leave things as they are. I will start dealing with the matter myself." Dumbledore stood from his chair, looking like the weight of years could crush him, but looking determined nevertheless.

"What will you do, sir?" Hermione asked, standing herself.

"Do not worry about that, Miss Granger. Is there something else you haven't told me?" The unique twinkle his eyes always made was there and Hermione gasped. "Yes?"

"Sir... It's about Harry. He doesn't look like Harry anymore." Hermione was surprised to see the headmaster laughing.

"So it happened already? My, that boy sure is fast!" Dumbledore laughed again.

"What do you mean, sir?" In her standing position, Hermione placed her hands nervously on the desk in front of her.

"Those who are taken for a mission to that world never return as they were, Miss Granger. None of them will be the same ever again." Dumbledore's blue eyes looked distant.

"But you returned normally! You didn't change, right?" Hermione kept blinking in disbelief.

"Oh! I did change, Miss Granger, although not physically. I'm curious about Mr. Potter not looking like himself, but it must be something similar. Something did happen, Miss Granger." Dumbledore smiled a little and at that moment, Hermione listened to a bird singing. Fawkes flew towards the headmaster, stood on the wizard's right shoulder, and pecked the wizard's ear affectionately. Hermione nodded in understanding and smiled back at the headmaster, before finally leaving the office.

She didn't obey the old wizard though. As soon as she was able to, the girl met with Ron and showed him the mirror. It was early the next morning when she did. The redhead nodded approvingly for they were going to try to contact Harry again.

XxXxX

The fire was still consuming the stable as they all watched with ghastly expressions. The man that had led the children to the stable was sobbing next to the young group that had just defeated a band of bounty hunters and had rescued a small group of children.

Some of the villagers came out of houses and shops. They stared at the fire, then at the winged young man that was kneeling with his head lowered. Dianeia knelt next to Harry and as difficult as it was for her to speak to him, she tried her best. "Harry... Wings... Er... Disturbing the villagers?"

Harry locked his eyes with the woman's and nodded. He wasn't going to snap at her even if he almost felt like snapping at everyone, but he was too numbed by what had just happened. As best as he could he concentrated and little by little, the wings disappeared into his bloodstained back. "Better?" he asked Dia, but his voice sounded weak, strained. She simply nodded at him before using a cleansing spell on the teenager's back and clothes to remove the sight of blood.

The crybaby in their group, Soshlan, was also sobbing. His whole body started to glow and dark gray clouds seemed to put themselves together above the stable. The elven fairy cried even more, falling on his knees, and causing a powerful holy rain to start pouring over the fire. All of the townspeople were surprised to see the flames slowly diminishing until there were only slight fumes rising under the rain that kept falling only over the stable. Soon the rain became a mild drizzle, then it stopped just when Soshlan stopped crying, using that strange natural power. He fainted afterwards and Neville picked him up, but Kroy freed the human boy from the burden, as he was stronger.

Neville looked at his empty arms and embraced himself while Luna approached what remained of the stable. Other villagers did the same and some started to remove debris, digging. The saddened man was one of them. He gasped and Harry glanced at him. "What's wrong?" asked the teen, getting on his feet and running toward the stable's remains.

"There's nothing... There are no charred bodies!" The man said looking aghast.

Kroy quickly clarified a point: "Nothing would remain of a vampire. Janryu was a vampire. He should have turned into dust when the burning ceiling fell on him."

Some of the townsfolk looked terrified at the knowledge that the one who had tried to rescue the two toddlers was a vampire, but nevertheless a frail looking woman asked nervously: "What about the children? There should be remains to bury..."

The stable man shook his head, still lifting burned pieces of wood. "There's absolutely nothing here. It's empty. There's nothing at all."

"Could they have been completely consumed?" an eight-year-old boy who was among the rescued children asked.

"Not possible," a middle aged man replied. "The fire wasn't there for that long, even if it had been some sort of magical fire."

"Could they be alive? Could they have been saved?" Harry asked with a trembling voice to no one in particular.

Kroy looked uncertain. "I don't want to give anybody false hope, but it's true that even if the vampire ended up as dust there should have been some remains of the children..."

Harry suddenly glared at Kroy. "Don't you dare call him 'the vampire'. Keep using his name."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you," Kroy replied to the tensed Harry Potter.

Harry immediately relaxed a little. "And I didn't mean to snap at you... I..." Dia went to Harry's side and grabbed his hand to give him support.

They all ended up in the town's Inn after completely confirming that there wasn't a single charred body in the stable's remains. Neville asked Harry how long they would remain in that town, but Harry didn't feel like replying. Instead, The-Boy-Who-Lived kept to himself.

Seeing that Harry wasn't doing anything, Dianeia took the decision, eyeing Harry from time to time to see if he would complain. "Okay, we are going to take a break in this town. The people from this village have already taken the children to an apparent refuge they have. Kroy has gone with them to make sure the refuge spoken about wasn't made up by a bandit amongst the people. We already know we can't trust anyone." She eyed Harry for what had to be the tenth time and then turned to Nemaisse. "Are you sure of your decision of not joining the other children in the secret refuge?" Nemaisse nodded. "Good. As for what we will do if the shadow men come, we will hide, of course. Or at least, the younger ones will hide. I don't really have to hide..." Harry lifted his eyes and looked at her in a strange way when she said that, but Dia ignored it. "I still don't know for how long we'll remain here, but at least we will be able to recover from everything we've been through."

Right after Kroy came back, he gave a nod to Dianeia, confirming everything was alright. They ate in silence, but they barely touched their plates. Kroy took bits of his food, but chewed and made a face as if he was chewing something disgusting. Harry didn't even touch his fork like the rest, who at least fumbled with the food on their plates. Soshlan grabbed his fork and approached the plate with it, but let it drop, pushed the plate away, placed his arms crossed over one another on the table, and hid his face in his arms. At that gesture, everyone stopped eating and pushed their plates away too. "Let's just sleep?" Dianeia suggested and everyone nodded.

Soshlan suddenly blurted in a broken voice: "Today I am sixteen, but just ignore it." Nemaisse gave him a hug and Luna did the same, being copied also by Dia. Neville patted the elven fairy's back while Harry gave the boy a half smile. Kroy simply nodded, looking at Soshlan.

The beds in the flat like room they got were in separate bedrooms, but they had to sleep in pairs, as there weren't enough beds. Neville went to his room with Luna, Nemaisse went with Soshlan, and Dianeia escorted Harry to another room. Kroy went to a bedroom by himself and as he sat on the bed, he lowered his head, thinking that if Janryu had been alive he probably would have been there with him.

Dia tried to be careful in how she spoke to Harry. For some reason she was afraid he would snap at her, and that slight fear that nagged at her prevented her from acting normal. "Do you... Do you want to change to pajamas? Or... take a bath first?" Harry blinked at her, making her clear her throat. "Whatever you want will be fine. You can sleep in normal clothes if you prefer... I... I'll just sleep on the floor so that you'll be comfortable, alright? I'll have a bath first, though." She was about to leave him when his hand grabbed her left wrist. He gently pulled her to him, sat her on his lap, and made her face him.

"Why are you acting as if I am mad at you?" Harry asked curiously, surprising her.

"I... I just thought..." She went completely silent.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor. Whatever you really feel, state so. I won't bite you." The woman nodded, looking at the floor. "Is your race male dominant?" The woman nodded again and Harry sighed. "That explains it. Well, I don't feel any superiority over you and I'm not made of glass either. Yes, I feel terrible. I won't lie about it, but I won't snap at you, alright?" Harry's eyes suddenly held a mischievous gleam in them. "Do we both fit in the bath?" Dia blinked at that, but then she went into a laughing fit. After a little while they were bathing together.

Harry relaxed in bed with Dia, trying to forget all the events of that day. He almost had a conscience for being intimate with her that night, but at the same time, he felt he needed to release the accumulated stress and he couldn't deprive himself of that. In the morning, he had disturbing thoughts though. He had heard part of Kharainne's conversation with Dia, even when he hadn't been completely awake. "Dianeia?"

Sleep filled pink orbs fluttered open. "Hm?"

"If you were completely human, how old would you be?"

Dia straightened herself in bed looking horrified and nervous. "You heard us?" He nodded. "Oh no... I'm twenty-two, alright?" Harry gave her a look that almost made her feel guilty. "Alright, alright. If I had been human, which I'm not, I would have been about... twelve." She joined her fingers nervously, tapping them against each other.

Harry registered the words and suddenly flinched. "I'm sleeping with a twelve year old?"

"Hey! That is not true!" The woman clarified with a glare that she quickly softened. "Not true! Do I have the body of a twelve year old?" Harry stared at her curvy chest and shook his head. That only angered her a little and she started to tickle him. "That was not funny, Harry!" She suddenly looked worried and stopped the tickles. "Are you scared now? It's not like I have the mentality of a twelve year old... It's only that I am not fully developed internally."

"I understand," Harry replied with a sly smile and changed the subject. "Dia... Does having wings mean I can fly?"

The woman was thoughtful for a few seconds. "Not necessarily. You will have to test them. We'll have to look for a cliff..." Dia stated casually, pouting slightly.

"A-A cl-cl-cliff?" Harry stuttered with wide eyes.

"Of course!" she exclaimed as if it were obvious, flinging her hands to the sides.

"Can't we just use a tree?" he asked twitching.

"Are you losing your guts?" she asked raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms in front of her still naked chest. "If you fall I'll rescue you." She winked.

"Are you sure I can trust you?" he asked warily, making Dia renew the tickling attacks, but he asked her to stop as he heard someone calling him. He snapped his fingers, getting both of them dressed, and said: "A mirror... I need a mirror." Dia pointed at the body length miror in the bedroom and Harry went to it. "I'm here," he said, and as soon as he spoke those words both Hermione and Ron appeared. Dia was beside Harry in seconds, making Ron and Hermione glance at her, but they looked back at Harry.

"Harry!" Hermione started. "I'm so glad you're alright! I have to make this quick because this communicating method is not secure!"

"WHAT?" Harry reacted.

"Don't interrupt! Look! Remember last time?" Hermione was speaking as fast as she could. "The communication was broken due to some interference from a strange man or creature. He tried to grab me! Said that he would have us! His hand came through the mirror, Harry! That's all, alright?" Ron simply kept nodding behind the bushy haired girl. "We'll go now, alrig..." Hermione screamed and the communication was cut.

Harry was shocked. His breathing came with difficulty and he looked at Dia. "Can my friends be in danger? Even in my world?"

"I don't know, Harry. I really don't know," Dianeia replied with a troubled expression.

XxXxX

Albus Dumbledore was filled with concern. He had been having nightmares about Harry calling to him since before Hermione had gone to him. What Hermione told him made things worse and he felt that maybe Harry needed his help, but at the same time, he suspected something amiss in those nightmares. Even if it was some sort of setup for him, he had to go to Harry. Perhaps he could be of help to the boy.

He went to the Transfigurations teacher's office. She was surprised he had come to her rather than calling her to his own office so she quickly knew something was not right. "Albus?"

"Minerva, I simply wanted to tell you that I might disappear and I don't know if I'll be able to come back," the headmaster said, looking worn out.

"What do you mean by that, Albus? Where are you going?"

"I'll try to help Mr. Potter. I am not sure if he'll be able to handle the situation. He might need my help."

"How do you know that, Albus? Do you know where Mr. Potter is?"

"Yes, Minerva. I do know where he is. And what I know or rather feel, is because I've been having... strange dreams."

"Why didn't you say so? Why did you hide such a thing? Is that boy in danger? With Miss Lovegood and Mr. Longbottom?"

"They might be. That's what I'm going to find out."

"Albus, you are always interfering in that boy's life. Isn't it time to let him try to untangle this new web by himself? Plus dreams... That's odd..."

"I'll still try to do what I can. I might be able to help him in some way. Those children will come back alive, even if it costs me my own life."

"You're not young, Albus. Will you be able to handle the strain?" There was concern in the teacher's features.

"I'll be fine, Minerva. I've been through so much already..." He placed a hand on her left shoulder. "Be a good Headmistress. I'm sure you'll do brilliantly." The old wizard smiled at her and left her office.

Albus locked himself in his office and caressed Fawkes. "I have to go, my friend. I don't know if I'll be able to come back..." The bird chirped in an odd way, but the headmaster understood it and asked happily: "You want to come with me? Along with this wrinkled old man? You might be helpful, even if you're not Phaisanny... The phoenix that united with me in that world..." The bird chirped again and Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, you might be able to show the same power. Thank you, Fawkes." Dumbledore slowly walked toward a small cabinet and removed a small stone, similar to the one that transported Harry, Luna, and Neville. The stone wasn't as powerful as the other one, but it was still useful. The old wizard walked to a mirror with the small rock in his right hand, and chanted with his eyes closed. Ripples formed in the mirror as he chanted. He opened his eyes and used the stone as a key. He had obtained that stone when he was a hundred years old, but never used it for anything. He had simply saved it as a memento, a replacement of the one that had been confiscated so many years before. The arm with the stone went through the mirror and soon the old wizard was swallowed and Fawkes went through the mirror after him.

He awoke minutes later, conveniently in front of a river. He was feeling very thirsty and he stood to have a drink of the clear water, but tripped in robes that had become too large for him. "Now, that was odd..." He spoke aloud and gasped at the sound of his voice. Something was not right. He went to the water and looked at his reflection. His reaction was of alarm. "No... This is not how it's supposed to be... Why have I taken this form?" Fawkes suddenly landed on the boy's right shoulder. "You still recognize me?" The bird made a sound that seemed like laughter. "I think we've been led to a trap, my dear friend. I wasn't supposed to look like this, as convenient as it may seem..." Albus did feel energy soaring in his body, energy that at his real age was simply not possible. He had his drink of water, still a little confused.

Wandlessly, Albus transfigured his robes into long black plants and a Chinese collar style long sleeved black shirt. He looked for a bladed rock and transfigured it into a knife that he used to cut his excessive mane of now auburn hair. He left it down his shoulders, but tied it in a ponytail with a string he conjured. After that, he started to look around because he heard the sound produced by someone approaching. He found himself surrounded by shadow men and he smirked in a very un-Dumbledore way. He raised his left hand, making it go ablaze and Fawkes combined with him, turning him into a completely fiery being. The fiery creature that looked like a giant fire falcon created a pyramid that grew and swallowed the shadow men whole. Albus returned back to normal and Fawkes was by his side. "You know, Fawkes... You do replace Phaisanny perfectly, but we have a problem." He caressed the bird's head. "I think I made a big mistake by coming here. He'll use my power against Mr... Against Harry. I have a feeling we'll be captured by a very dark being, my friend. And it might happen very soon."

Just then, a ray of light went through Albus' right side, making him gasp. He fell to the ground on his knees, blood coming profusely from the area the ray had gone through. He clenched his teeth and stood, facing a tall robed man with a dark veil covering his face. The man spoke. "I can't believe how easy it was to bring the mighty Al to my domains. I'm so glad that you were actually alive, but at your age, you weren't going to do nicely. Like the spell? Isn't it nice to be young again? I will combine my powers with yours to destroy the new so-called... heroes. I have measured that new boy's power and I cannot defeat him with my current level. I will increase my power by using you as my main energy supply, child Al."

"You will have to defeat me first, don't you think?" Al stated, easily healing his bleeding wound by stroking it with his right hand.

Nebureth prepared himself and started to invoke his magic while Al combined with Fawkes yet again.

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**Thank you very much to my reviewers: lovenotknown, alaskagirl24, and bandgsecurtyaw! Wouldn't be the same without your encouragement!**


	17. Cherish

Author's Notes: Larakain is that world's name. Sorry I didn't mention it before. Silly me! LOL Yeah, I know I'm no great and awesome writer. :p I just hope I won't bore anyone!

**Thanks to Menecarkawan for beta reading!**

Songs: 'Cherish' by Ai Otsuka (From Album 'Love Cook'); 'Cherish' by Beni Arashiro (From Eyeshield 21)

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**Ch. 17: Cherish**

Al really wished he had a whip. Depending solely on magic would make the fight truly difficult and exhausting, but he had to escape. He knew the fight was one he would lose in the end, so his main course of action was finding a way to flee from that strange warlord, or whatever that man was. There was also Fawkes. Al's magical mutation allowed him to combine with Fawkes as he used to do with Phaisanny, but it wasn't the same. Fawkes was a real phoenix, not a summon. Fawkes' magical strength would never reach the same levels as Phaisanny's. Unfortunately, all of Al's summons had perished in his last battle to rescue Marina.

He developed a flame wall that he sent against the veiled man, but the man countered with a dispelling magical cloud before sending a black dust against Al. The now boyish looking ancient wizard chanted, and after changing into a semi human form set ablaze, sent his fiery arms to each side, palms opened. In this fashion, Al accomplished vanishing the dark dust that had been approaching him. With great speed, he then created two giant arcs that combined fire and holy magic and sent them both against the veiled lord. Nebureth had to dispel both arcs, but couldn't manage to get rid of both at the same time. That was what Al needed to make his run for it. Just as Nebureth destroyed one of the arcs and was attacked by the other, Al slid forming an imaginary circle, and vanished from the site.

Al was panting as he appeared in human form and Fawkes on his shoulder at the other side of the river, hiding behind a tree. He removed his half-moon glasses that were now clouding his eyes, saved them in a pocket, and started to run from there, knowing full well that he had to get as far as he could from where he had been. He felt almost drained. The phoenix combination magic had always been exhausting and even if he looked and even felt like a fourteen year old, in his mind he could almost feel the weight of being really almost one hundred and fifty-five years old.

As if perceiving its master's despondency, Fawkes suddenly chirped and pecked Al's cheek. Al stopped on his tracks, smiled, and transfigured a tree branch into a rope that he tied to Fawkes' right leg, and then he carefully tied the rope around his abdomen, passing it under his arms. Fawkes chirped again, spread his wings, and took off carrying his human, but not too high so that they wouldn't be spotted. Al truly wished he could find Harry, but he knew that if he was where he thought he was, at Larakain's current dark lord's domains, he had to be extremely far from wherever Harry was.

XxXxX

Hermione had been crying ever since she and Ron had last spoken to Harry. Ron had tried consoling her in vain, but at least during classes the girl had seemed calmer. She had screamed when Nebureth's image had appeared yet again, but just like the first time, Ron had smashed the mirror. This time she hadn't bothered to repair it and Ron didn't either. He had simply vanished the mess caused by the shards and thrown the handle into the nearest bin.

Both friends had been extremely worried about Harry, but he had seemed fine to them. He was even with some young woman. Ron wondered who the woman was. She was pretty in a very unique sort of way, but he had no thing for diamond white haired girls. Something about the woman was very odd in the redhead's opinion. It reminded him a bit of _veelas_ and how they weren't entirely human, but the woman didn't have the charms that _veelas_ possessed. In that sense, the woman with Harry was more normal and at least Harry seemed comfortable with her.

Hermione had also wondered about the woman with Harry, but decided not to give it much thought. She wondered if Ron was giving it some thought though. Boys did have a tendency to analyze girls. It almost made Hermione gag, but if Harry was happy, she would be alright with it. What really worried her was the man in the mirror. It gave her chills to remember, but that wasn't all. Even when the hand mirror was to remain permanently broken she didn't want to see mirrors. Whenever she could see her reflection somewhere she stepped back. When she went to the ladies' rooms, she was afraid of glancing at her own image in the mirrors there. She wondered if she was being silly, but for some reason she was afraid she wasn't being silly at all. She and Ron had opened a very dangerous link by contacting Harry.

XxXxX

Harry had been worried about Ron and Hermione, but had willed himself to think that they were alright. He had breakfast normally that day and approached Soshlan with a rounded piece of bread. "You should eat too. We cannot dwell on it forever. We have to go on." The slightly pointed eared boy stared at Harry, pastel yellow eyes connecting with emerald orbs that had a sapphire border around them. "You know... I was wondering about that rain you caused..." Harry quickly realized he had somehow said something terribly wrong because Soshlan broke into sobs. "What did I say? Soshlan! What's wrong?"

Nemaisse ran to the spot and tapped Harry's back. He turned and she whispered: "He thinks it's his fault Janryu perished in that dark fire because he didn't create the holy rain sooner."

Harry sighed, lowering his head, his mane of blue streaked black hair falling neatly, covering his cheeks and partially falling on his shoulders. He signaled for Nemaisse to leave him with Soshlan and the dark skinned girl nodded, biting her lower lip before leaving. Harry placed a hand on Soshlan's shoulder that wasn't rejected. He then sat beside the golden haired boy. "It wasn't your fault, Soshlan. Eat." Harry offered the bread again.

"How can you say it wasn't?" The tear streaked boy asked. "You saw it with your own eyes! I was able to stop that magical fire all along with my..." The boy covered his eyes with his hands. "With my own life energy! If I had realized I could stop it before... If only I had realized it sooner, Janryu..." He uncovered his eyes and stared at Harry, his lips trembling. "Janryu would have been alive!"

"Don't speak nonsense, Soshlan. You couldn't have known you could stop it just like that. You..." Harry suddenly remembered Sirius falling through the veil. "You didn't cause Janryu's death. Did you make Janryu run into the fire?" Soshlan shook his head. "I was going to run inside and rescue those little ones, but he stopped me and went himself. It was his choice and at least you didn't stupidly lure him there to make him go into that fire..." Harry kept trying to put the image of Sirius away, almost feeling sick.

Soshlan, noticing Harry's seemingly mental storm, took the bread from Harry's hand and started to nibble on it. He gazed curiously at Harry and stated: "You still blame yourself for someone else's death. You think you lured that person into the place where he died."

Harry's eyes hardened. "We're not talking about me. I'm... I'm glad you feel a little better." Harry stood to leave, but Soshlan stood too and grabbed Harry's tunic.

"Are you alright yourself?" Soshlan asked with concern.

The-Boy-Who-Lived was having trouble trying not to snap at the elven fairy or anyone else for that matter. He took a deep breath and faked a smile. "I'm alright, Soshlan. Just eat, okay?"

Only a few hours later Harry found himself in front of a cliff, staring at what seemed like a bottomless depth. "I am not going to jump! Are you mad?" He turned to the young woman that was beaming beside him.

"Harry! And here I had this image of you being so brave! You are ruining that image! What would Zheylks think?" Dianeia seemed quite happy with herself.

"You do know that's manipulation, right? You are trying to make me jump into a bottomless pit!"

"It's not bottomless, Harry! It's just that there's a little bit of fog and you can't see the bottom!"

Harry pointed into the clouded depths. "You call that a little a bit of fog?"

Dia giggled. "Okay, so it's not a little. Still--"

"Still, nothing! I am not going to jump into that!" Harry, who had interrupted the woman, checked the wings that he had freed earlier and shook his head.

Dianeia sat on the ground and rested her chin on her right palm. She sighed. "We'll wait then."

Harry paced from side to side, occasionally checking the cliff. He shook his head yet again and kept pacing while Dia waited. She started to blow her diamond white bangs from over her eyes, ignoring Harry, but was startled when Harry ran backwards and then to the front before throwing himself.

"Hey! You were supposed to tell me before jumping!" She yelled at him as she prepared to jump after him, but was amazed when he broke the fall flapping his wings. She clapped. "Very good! You have definitely surprised me, although for a moment I thought you were being suicidal!" Harry flew to where she was and threw himself over her, making her lose her balance and fall backwards. She pushed a laughing Harry from over her and said in an annoyed tone: "If that wasn't on purpose then you'll have to work a lot on your landing!" The young woman was rubbing her bottom as she stood.

"It was on purpose," Harry stated, still laughing. "Got you, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. When did you practice?" she asked raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Last night, while you slept peacefully and obliviously on," he smirked and mimicked a sleeping person.

"How come I didn't hear you?" she asked with a pout.

Harry placed a quick kiss on her pouting lips and whispered: "It's called a Silencing Charm." He winked at her and she laughed, but he then asked changing the topic: "Where were you after breakfast?"

Dia smiled mischievously. "As we will be in the village for some time, I thought we could distract ourselves by working."

Harry blinked incredulously. "Working?"

"Yes! Kroy and I went to find jobs and found temporary jobs for everyone," she was beaming.

Harry opened his mouth and closed it, then he opened it again, a feeling of dread washing over him. "What's my job?"

"You and I will work together at the Bakery!" She looked quite excited.

Harry gaped before stating: "I don't bake. I can cook, but bake? No way!"

"We'll learn! I've never baked anything in my life either! And I can't even cook!" She giggled.

"You can't cook?" Harry asked sounding almost exasperated, but he remembered that on the few times they camped the one to cook was Janryu.

"Not really! Glad to know you can!" She wore a big smile.

"May I know what else you _can't_ do?" The image Harry had of Dia being pure perfection was shattering in front of his eyes.

"I can't sew, I can't cook, I can't bake, I'm quite bad at cleaning too or so Father says..." She spoke looking pensive.

"Well, at least you can sing..." Harry said trying to find a nice attribute.

Dia frowned. "Actually, I can't. I only know that singing spell from that time to make those men sleep, but I cannot sing properly." She grinned.

"What can you do?" Harry asked looking pale.

"I am a mage! I can perform magic!"

"I meant physically..." Harry twitched.

"I'm not sure..." Dia went thoughtful all of a sudden, and then she brightened. "I can wash clothes without magic!"

Harry wanted to bang his head against the nearest tree trunk he could find, but smiled to himself. It was better to know that she wasn't perfect at all and he liked her just the way she was. "So... What are the jobs you and Kroy found for the others?"

"Nemaisse and Soshlan will be working in a Flower shop, Neville and Kroy will be working with the Blacksmith, and Luna will be working at the Antique's shop. Why?"

"Er... Why couldn't I work with the Blacksmith? Sounds more manly..."

Dia went thoughtful and replied: "Because you can get hurt and dirty?" Harry made a face. "Kidding!" She laughed. "I don't know. That was Kroy, not me! He got that job for him and Neville before I found the jobs at the Bakery so he was the one who left you out." She went very serious and Harry nodded in understanding. He then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lovingly. "This is still confusing, you know?" he spoke about their situation.

"I know, Harry. I know," the woman stated looking nervous.

XxXxX

Harry was gently shaping what was supposed to become a loaf of bread over a floured surface. He was completely covered in flour from kneading the dough, still wondering what in the world he was doing working in a Bakery when they were supposed to look for more fragments and destroy Nebureth, but deep inside he knew they weren't ready yet. He placed the loaf on a baking sheet that was sprinkled with flour and left it in a warm area to rise in volume with the other loaves he had already dealt with, then he went to start working with flour, yeast, water and the rest of the ingredients as they changed to give the loaves different flavors. He was concentrating for a while, kneading the dough when a sack of flour crashed against his face. He coughed and looked at the very chubby middle-aged woman that owned the Bakery and was laughing with Dia. He had to make a very nice sight with his face covered in flour, he thought to himself. The nice woman kindly said: "How long will you stay with that dough, boy?" That's when he realized the dough had been ready a while ago. He laughed nervously and placed it on the baking sheet.

"Sorry," he apologized, but the woman shook her head with a smile.

"It's alright, son. I know you've been through many hardships. Your eyes reflect that. Just don't go daydreaming on the job!"

Harry sent an annoyed glance in Dianeia's direction and she stuck out her tongue while dealing with dough just like he was.

That night Harry felt exhausted. He never thought that dealing with dough would be so tiring, but Neville looked much worse than him when the boy arrived with Kroy. Kroy didn't look very tired though.

The blackened and dirty Neville went to Harry with a pleading gaze and grabbed Harry's shoulders. "Please trade jobs with me! Please! Please!"

Kroy raised an eyebrow and grabbed Neville by the collar. "Oh no, you don't! You will turn all that fat into muscle whether you want to or not! It will do you good!"

Neville looked like he could cry when Kroy escorted him to the bathroom. "Now you will take a warm bath. You'll feel better in no time."

Harry doubted Neville would feel better. He now considered that perhaps he had been lucky. Soshlan and Nemaisse looked perfectly fine and dandy while Luna had a smile adorning her lips. She blurted: "I love that store. It's so full of extremely interesting things! Mr. Cozlo told me he would let me take some things if I worked well. How long will we be working here in Chikbo Town?"

"Not longer than three weeks," Harry stated with determination. "At some point we have to leave, not just this town, but this land. There are no more fragments here."

XxXxX

The last night for them in that town arrived. They had been working for three weeks, always hiding when Nebureth's shadow men came. The people seemed willing to hide them, but Harry wondered how long their loyalty would last. He knew that they already had to leave because he was sure Nebureth was offering very nice amounts of money when it came to children, especially them.

Harry went to the bathroom to wash his face and noticed something strange in his reflection. He touched the mirror with his fingertips and asked aloud: "Hermione?" But there was no response. He dried his face, ignoring the strange sensation nagging at him, and went to sleep.

He woke dressed in school robes in a room that was completely dark. He couldn't find his way around that room, but touched something in front of him. Suddenly the room started to glow and gradually illuminated itself. The object Harry was touching was a mirror, but in the mirror was Al, also dressed in school robes. "I found you!" the boy in the mirror exclaimed. "Glad to see you're fine!"

Harry was taken aback because it genuinely seemed like Al had been looking for him. "How can you look for me when you don't even know me?"

"Mr. Potter! Of course I would know you!" the boy in the mirror exclaimed chuckling and with his blue eyes twinkling. "You have no idea how much it cost me to find your magical signature! It has changed so much! Miss Granger was right! Anyway, I don't have much time. Have you been to Zanoa yet?"

Harry registered in his mind the lands and cities they had been in and he was sure Zanoa wasn't one of them. "I don't think so..." Al seemed relieved, but as he was about to speak, Harry interrupted him. "How do you know about Hermione? You're supposed to be from the past!"

"I'm the present one, Harry..." Al's eyes seemed ancient all of a sudden, like eyes that had seen far too much in life. "But there's no time to explain why." Harry gasped when he saw Fawkes land on Al's shoulder. "When you get to Zanoa, you might need to go through an abandoned castle. There's an enchantingly beautiful sleeping man there. This is very important! When you get there you have to..." Al gasped. "He found us again, Fawkes!" The image disappeared and Harry woke abruptly. He was sweating and gasping for breath. He had felt dark magic very close to him, like wanting to swallow him; plus the dream had been too real.

"Are you alright?" Dianeia asked, straightening in bed.

"Yes... Fine..." Harry said with a distant gaze. Al had said that he had to tell him something important, but wasn't able to say what. Harry had a bad feeling that whatever it was would bring him problems later on. Al said something about a sleeping man. What about him? "Let's just go back to sleep," Harry muttered and Dianeia nodded and lied down.

Only two hours later they were abruptly awoken when they heard screams coming from the other rooms. Harry sat up on the bed and asked aloud: "What's happening?" All of a sudden, he felt a strong chain entangle itself around his neck. He gasped as the chain almost strangled him and heard Dianeia screaming beside him. He was violently thrown to the floor and could feel his magic being sapped by the chain. He realized that it was a neutralizing power just like the one he had seen before with the caravan the bounty hunters had.

Harry felt himself being dragged through the floor and he bent his knees and placed his feet firmly on the floor to avoid being taken by whoever it was that was capturing him, but he only managed to make the chain strangle him even more. He was stubborn though. He wouldn't let himself be dragged like that. He tried to invoke his magic, but received a painful shock wave through his whole body. He swallowed the scream that had wanted to come from his throat in his pride. He wouldn't let the enemy see him scream. Arms started to pick him up from the floor and he thrashed, but felt another wave through his body as one of the enemies placed a strange object against his chest, and everything went dark for him.

XxXxX

His eyes flung open and he reacted by immediately thrashing on the floor. His wrists and ankles were chained to a wall and he saw that Neville and Luna were there with him, but no one else. Getting into a standing position he asked: "Where are the others?" His heart was thumping so fast he thought his chest would burst.

"They took them away. They said they had to be separated from the children from the other world..." Neville lowered his eyes as if hiding something.

"What about the supposed to be adults? What about Dianeia and Kroy?"

Luna also lowered her eyes and Harry glared at Neville. "They were both forced to turn into their magical forms through some strange magic." Neville stopped for a minute, and then continued speaking. "Dianeia has been enslaved and will be transferred to a place called Baskuran. Kroy will be executed under the accusation of treason for hiding children."

Harry couldn't believe something like that could be happening. He just couldn't believe it. How were they supposed to escape? He was suddenly furious. "Where's that idiot? Where's that Angelus bloke? Why didn't he help us when we needed him the most?"

"We cannot depend on him, can we?" Luna asked with saddened eyes.

"He helped us before... Why did he disappear if he is supposed to be our comrade?"

"Harry... I don't think you're being reasonab--"

Neville's words were broken. "Reasonable? Reasonable? Who can be reasonable in this situation, Neville? We're soon to become slumbering idiots and then what? Everything will have been in vain!"

Harry started to pull the chains and started trying to remove his hands from the chain cuffs. His wrists started to bleed, but he didn't care. His eyes started to glow all of a sudden and he screamed as he felt something triggering inside him, but the energy was blocked by a shock wave like the one he had received when he had tried to invoke his magic before. He clenched his teeth and stopped fighting the chains, dropping on his knees. Neville and Luna gave him pitied gazes and he scowled at them. "Don't you dare give me those looks! I don't need sympathy from people that are in the same situation as me, especially if they're not even trying to do something about..." He stopped short when he noticed that Neville's wrists were dripping blood too and even Luna's. "I'm sorry..." Harry said lowering his eyes and feeling extremely stupid. They had been awake, probably the whole time, unlike him. They had already fought the chains before him, to no avail.

Even though Harry had noticed that in that world that Dianeia had told him before was called Larakain, there was something similar to Muggle electricity, in that dungeon there were burning torches to provide them with light instead of 'electric' lamps. The fire in the torches started to flicker and Harry cursed thinking that they were going to be left in darkness soon to make things worse. He noticed something white moving fast through columns across the room and he asked aloud: "Angelus?" He heard a familiar laugh and paled as the person appeared in front of him, putting a finger to his lips. Luna and Neville gasped.

"We've come to get you outta here!" the black haired young man that was dressed completely in white exclaimed in a whisper.

"We?" Harry asked weakly as he stared at the person he was seriously considering a ghost. "Yes! I've been with Angelus all this time! The dude actually started speaking to me!" The young man froze the chains that held Harry and made them crumble looking like ice cubes.

"Why can you break them and I can't?" Harry seemed alarmed at that detail.

"Because they only stop the magic from the one being trapped, silly. Now let's free the others! There isn't much time! Kroy is about to be sacrificed to some strange diety! And before you ask, he is currently unable to transform into a dragon even if he tenses too much. Magical blocking just like the spell on those chains holding you guys."

Harry was still registering everything in his mind. He had so many questions to ask, but ran to free Neville and Luna. They had to rescue the others and flee!

* * *

Five reviews for the last chapter! Okay, I'm being pathetic, I know. Anyway, thanks to: Fk306 animelover, lovenotknown, HitoshirenzuKage, bandgsecurtiyaw, yoYO - I feel flattered when I'm accused of being evil. -mad cackle- 


	18. A Temporary Leader

And here is 18! Am I off the hook now or did I just make things worse? Slight spoiler for chapter 19: Harry will transform at last. You can all start wondering about what will happen. Hope you like when I finally post it. Chapter 19 is already written and in the hands of my beta.

Thanks to **Menecarkawan** for beta-reading!

Song: 'Ashi Kabi' by Souichirou Hoshi (from Akira)

Replaced the original chapter to put this question, although this will be for readers that haven't read the chapter yet... Anyway...

**A Question For Readers: **I've been planning for Dumbledore and Harry to never find each other in Larakain, but decided to bring it to a vote as I'm still not sure about what path to take regarding that. I wanted to know about your opinion in the matter. Should Harry find Dumbledore or should they never encounter each other until, well, the end. LOL What would you prefer? You already know what I'm inclined to, but if people prefer for them to find each other I can do that too. Thank you.

* * *

**Ch. 18: A Temporary Leader**

Janryu helped in freeing Neville and Luna, but then carefully stared at the three from the other world. "You do know you are in pajamas, right?"

"We were captured from our beds!" Neville explained while transfiguring his baggy gray pajamas to long pants and short sleeved buttoned shirt of the same colour. "I guess we'll have to stay barefooted?" he asked Harry.

"We shouldn't," Luna spoke. "What if we get things imbedded into our feet in the middle of a fight?"

Harry actually laughed at that and he told them: "Let's just transfigure something into boots, at least temporarily..." He looked around, but couldn't see anything that might serve, when Janryu offered small daggers. "Thanks, these will do." Harry transfigured his own baggy dark red pajamas into light brown pants and dark red tunic, and then he transfigured two of the daggers into boots and put them on. Luna transfigured her light blue nightgown into a light blue sleeveless shirt and light blue shorts. She and Neville also transfigured daggers into boots and soon were wearing them. Luna then used curative magic to heal their injured wrists. "Thanks, Luna." Harry said before turning to Janryu and asking: "What about our weapons and accessories?"

"Angelus has everything. We raided the Inn you were staying in, but you had already been taken. The Inn Keeper was already planning on selling all of your possessions after having betrayed you. I got a little carried away in rage and the guy's limbs ended up everywhere. Not a very pretty sight. Angelus scolded me for that one," the vampire said with a half smile. "Anyway, come on! Kroy is going to be slaughtered! We have to stop it!"

They started to run out of the dungeon and on their way, Harry grabbed Janryu's arm: "What about Sohlan and Nemaisse?"

"Angelus went for those two for some reason and left me in charge of you guys and Kroy," Janryu stated rapidly, running with Harry beside him.

"What about Dia?" Harry continued with questions.

"Haven't seen her. Sorry," Janryu spoke quickly with a lowered expression that he immediately changed to concentrate on the corridor's path.

They all stopped abruptly when they found themselves in front of a glowing long silver object floating in midair. "This wasn't here before!" Janryu exclaimed. "It looks like a sword!"

Harry extended his arm towards the floating weapon and it allowed him to take it, halting its glow. He wielded the sword in a circling motion. "I guess it belongs to me now," he blurted, not knowing why he had that feeling.

The group of four continued in their race until the exit. Janryu made them get against the wall and he looked outside, he then motioned for Harry to look too. There were many oddly masked men dancing around a bonfire and even though it was daytime the sky started to darken. Harry then saw a platform with more masked men. Behind the platform was a giant statue that resembled a maroon coloured wingless gargoyle. He figured that it was probably the representation of a deity as Janryu had mentioned something about Kroy being sacrificed to a deity. With eyes still on the platform Harry got a glimpse of a dark blonde haired man sprawled rather than lying on an altar, dressed in sparkling long white robes that seemed to gracefully dress the altar like an altar cloth. It reminded Harry of ridiculously long bridal gowns, but he pushed the stupid thought aside. The man called Kroy was tied to the altar and around where he was were several golden jars. "What are those jars for?" asked Neville.

"Those are for Kroy's organs. You know, his heart, lungs, liver, kidneys..." Luna looked horrified as Janryu spoke in answer to Neville's question.

"That's barbaric!" The girl with protuberant eyes muttered.

"How should we save him?" Neville turned to Harry, questioning and looking a bit scared.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," said Harry as he scanned the enormous crowd that howled and cheered as the masked monks started to open Kroy's robes, exposing the half Draconian's tanned chest. The monks then started to chant and one of them lifted a copper knife full of sparkling gems. At that, Harry knew he couldn't wait any longer and abandoned their hiding place. Seeing Harry run like that Neville, Janryu, and Luna also came out of their hiding spot after him.

Harry let his wings come out and took off, speeding through the air until he was hovering over the altar. The monks were alarmed and pointed at Harry before one of them lifted a staff and threw a magical bolt at the teen, but Harry dodged and in an instant was joined by Janryu in demonic vampire form in the air. Janryu used his claws on the monk that had tried to attack Harry, ripping the monk's own chest completely open as they had intended to do with Kroy. Flapping his enormous bat wings he went against another one of the monks while Harry used his new sword to break the powerful binds that held Kroy to the altar, but the half Pegasi was unconscious. Harry considered the fact of Kroy being a strong 6'5" man, but ignored it and not knowing how he even managed it, he carried the man.

Neville and Luna were working together. Luna created a very powerful barrier around them and held it as Neville used strong bolts against the masked men that tried to approach them. They were at least able to keep the men from approaching them. Harry flew toward his friends, Kroy in his arms, and Janryu, who had just finished ripping all of the monks apart, also joined the others, regaining his human form. Eventually they were surrounded and Harry considered summoning, but stopped as he saw a tiny black sphere that started to expand, consuming all of the masked men. In seconds the sphere had gained giant proportions and had sucked and swallowed not only the screaming men, but even the altar, the jars, the dead monks, the giant statue, everything. The sphere then started to get smaller and smaller until it was tiny and bounced on the ground as if happy before getting into Luna's chest. Neville, Harry, and Janryu were gaping in surprise. The vampire was the one to ask: "What the hell was that?"

Luna smiled at them. "That was Attome, my newest summon."

"The one that was with the Androktonians?" Harry realized aloud and Luna nodded. "Can he always do that?"

Luna shook her head. "He could now, but he told me his power is limited."

"That's a pity," Harry said with a smile.

"Yeah, a real pity, but we have to get out of here!" Janryu exclaimed looking around. "Come on!"

The young vampire guided them through some trails as the daylight returned to its normal brightness. Finally, they ended in some ruins where they sat. "What are we supposed to do here?" asked Neville.

"Wait for Angelus. This is the place he designated for us to wait for him." Janryu turned to Harry, who had just carefully placed Kroy in front of him. "Maybe Angelus will find Dianeia... And another thing, how the hell were you able to carry that guy?" Janryu gave a look of amusement while staring at the apparently sleeping man lying in front of Harry.

Harry nodded, having a very bad feeling creeping inside him. He would have loved to be optimistic, but he was sure Angelus wouldn't have Dia with him. He looked at Kroy, who seemed in a catatonic state. "I have no idea how I carried him, but honestly, I didn't feel him too heavy for some reason. What's wrong with him anyway? He doesn't seem to be breathing..."

Luna placed her left index finger under Kroy's nostrils and her right hand on Kroy's abdomen and shook her head. "He is not breathing at all."

Neville checked the man's left wrist for a pulse. "He has a very weak pulse. Is he in some sort of strange non breathing coma?"

Janryu stared at the twenty-five year old man whose straight dark blonde hair was disarrayed behind his head on the floor. "Maybe it will pass... Maybe it's a magical catatonic state so that he wouldn't thrash during the execu-- What are those?" Janryu abruptly changed his train of thought and pointed to the cuffs on Kroy's wrists and ankles.

"Magic blocking cuffs," Harry figured and used a spell to vanish them.

XxXxX

Soshlan and Nemaisse were inside a dungeon, both in cuffs that prevented them from manipulating magic. Soshlan kept pacing through the dungeon desperately wanted to get out and rescue Kroy. "I can't believe he is going to be executed and we can't do anything about it!" In little time, Soshlan had started to put his prejudice aside. He felt terrible when Janryu 'died' and was now feeling impotent at being unable to go rescue the mild tempered and well-mannered man. "Why is it that everything has to go wrong? And what are they going to do with Harry and the others?" He grabbed the bars of the cell they were trapped in and a strong wave pushed him backwards, making him crash horribly against the cell's wall.

"How many times are you going to do that? Don't grab those bars! This is the ninth time I fear I'll hear your bones crushing as you hit the wall. Are you made of rocks or something?" Nemaisse rolled her eyes and shook her head as she gazed at the golden haired boy. "I don't know what we'll do or what will happen, but I'm still hoping for a miracle."

"A miracle, huh?" Soshlan said as he rubbed his aching pajama clad arms. He suddenly gasped and was about to grab the bars again, but held himself. "Nemaisse!" The girl stood up and approached the bars too. "They seem to be sleeping!"

"How come? Just seconds ago those guards were quite alert! Plus it's daytime! Don't guards fall asleep on the job only if its nighttime?" asked Nemaisse curiously.

The dryad and the elven fairy started to hear screams coming from outside and Soshlan paled. "They must have executed Kroy." He fell on his knees, his whole body trembling. "They're celebrating..."

"Soshlan... That doesn't sound like celebrating to me... Those are screams of anger and howls of fighting. Now it sounds like painful moans. Something must be happening outside. Maybe Kroy turned into a dragon!" The girl's dark gray eyes wore a gleam of pure hope.

"Highly unlikely, Nema. He had cuffs like these too," the boy showed her his cuffed wrists. "I've even tried shape shifting, which is something that comes to me naturally and I can't. It takes a lot for him to turn into a dragon and with those cuffs... Impossible."

The screams subsided and everything went silent. Nemaisse and Soshlan looked at each other, wondering what had happened when suddenly the bars of the cell vanished. A man moved with amazing speed and stopped right in front of the bar-less cell. "I've come for you."

"Who are you? You-- You're that man from before, right? From when we saw that wild ice dragon that froze us?" Soshlan reacted.

"You are needed so I cannot leave you to be taken by the dark lord. Here." From Angelus' chest came two tiny silver cubes and he somehow blew them towards Soshlan and Nemaisse. It was strange that he was able to blow when his face was covered up to his nose. The cubes entered their chests and they didn't even have time to react or reject what was being offered.

"What was that? What have you done to us?" Nemaisse cowered as she asked.

"You have been chosen by the leader child from the other world so you will now be linked to me. I already did the same for the vampire," was Angelus' reply.

"The vampire?" asked Soshlan completely taken aback. "You mean to say Janryu is alive?"

"The vampire is alive, yes. He is needed too. I had to nurse him back to health, but he is alright now. Come!" Soshlan and Nemaisse stared at the man, still confused.

Soshlan felt terribly embarrassed. He had even cried and sobbed like a girl for the stupid vampire. Now he was angry with himself. "What's your name anyway? I think Harry said something like Angelus..."

"That is my name, little one," Angelus replied expressionlessly. "We have to go to the others, but first we have to change the attire you are wearing and remove these cuffs that prevent you from wielding your powers." In seconds the cuffs vanished from the youngsters' wrists and ankles. "Follow me." Nemaisse and Soshlan glanced at each other and then started to follow the man.

XxXxX

Harry, Janryu, Luna, and Neville waited for a while and Neville asked: "What time is it anyway?"

"It must be some time after noon," Janryu replied while staring at the sun. "And I shouldn't be here for so long. What is that guy thinking making me stay under the sun for such an extended period of time? Does he want me to go into combustion or something?"

Just then Soshlan and Nemaisse, in fluttery white tunics and pants similar to Janryu's and Angelus', came running to them along with the mystery man whose lower half of his face couldn't be seen due to a very high collar that went up to his nose. He then lowered the collar in front of them, but it was the same as he still wore a tight white mask up to his nose. The man approached Kroy's figure and placed two fingers on the unconscious man's neck. Angelus then removed white gloves from his hands revealing glowing fingers. He placed the glowing fingertips on Kroy's exposed chest and stomach and pressed. Still pressing his fingers Angelus summoned a small silver cube like the ones he had inserted into Nemaisse and Soshlan and did the same with Kroy. In seconds, Kroy gasped and opened his shining eerie blue eyes while Angelus retrieved his hands and covered them again with the gloves.

Kroy sat up and blinked as he focused on everyone. He quickly tied the pearly white robes to cover his chest and then tried to stand, but lost his balance. Harry caught him along with Angelus. "I can't walk," Kroy said hoarsely.

"You have to recover," Angelus' deep strong voice had a commanding and dominant tone. "Your magic was absorbed for the ritual and that affected your physical body. Rest now so that you can gradually get your powers back." Angelus and Harry lowered the half Draconian to the ground, getting him into a sitting position. As if reading Harry's mind, Angelus turned to the teen and stated. "The winged unicorn has been taken. I was too late for her. She was forced to drag a carriage along with other slaves from her species. They are being used as regular wild animals, kept in their magical forms. We can't do anything about it."

Harry glared at the man. "What do you mean by that? I will rescue her. We know where she is being taken! To a place called Baskuran!"

"And we are not going to Baskuran yet. We'll head for Pakkon, where the next fragment is. After Pakkon we can go to Baskuran, which is the city after--"

"And who says you are the one giving orders here? You appear out of nowhere, suddenly join us, and now you are leading? Who do you think you are anyway?" Harry was furious and everyone stared at him.

"You are not in your right mind, lad. Your feelings for her cloud you. She will be alright. She won't be moved from Baskuran for quite some time. Her powers will be tested so that they can know if she will be useful as a whole or if they'll simply remove her alicorn."

Harry went pale when he heard the words 'remove her alicorn', he swallowed and started to breathe rapidly. Angelus held him. "She won't die if they remove her horn, but she'll lose all her magic. It can always be recovered, but in her case, I truly believe they'll want her whole. Now sleep." Angelus covered Harry's eyes and Harry went limp. The man then lowered Harry. "It is better this way. He'll try to interfere if he is awake so I might make him sleep all the way to Pakkon. His powers will be needed there. His mutation choice wasn't the best, but it will help him."

The others were confused by Angelus' words. Kroy quickly asked: "So are you going to remain with us now?"

"For a while, yes. I might leave again though, but I'll always come back. Now you need me, so I'll stay."

"What happened to the little children from the fire?" asked Luna.

"They are safe, that's all you need to know," Angelus replied, sitting beside Harry's sleeping form.

"What did you mean by Harry's mutation choice?" Neville asked shyly.

Angelus gave Neville a curious look. "Here in Larakain you will have to choose a mutation, a change that will blend with your magic, enhancing it. You'll eventually have to choose. Your friend's way of choosing was... a strange one."

"He didn't choose," Neville clarified. "It was an accident. He--"

"He didn't know what he was doing. I know."

"Is it obligatory to choose?" Neville kept up with questions.

"It is, in a certain way."

"What if I don't want to choose?"

Angelus' golden orbs fixed in Neville's brown ones. "Then it will choose you." Neville's eyes widened.

Luna suddenly stood and walked to where Kroy was. She stood in front of him and asked to no one in particular, extending her arms from side to side: "Can I choose to mutate with a dragon?"

Neville looked horrified while Soshlan and Nemaisse laughed. Kroy blushed madly as strange thoughts invaded his mind. He even grabbed the robes covering his otherwise naked body protectively and avoided looking at the strange girl. Janryu then smirked: "Why not a vampire? As you are from another world, maybe I'm not allergic to you... Plus you are kind of cute..." He licked his lips seductively and the elven fairy hit him on the head. "Hey!" the vampire reacted while Luna and Nemaisse laughed.

Soshlan spoke: "You seem worse than how you were, you know that? When Angelus told us you were alive I almost wanted to kill myself."

"Why? Do you hate me that much?" the vampire asked him feigning hurt.

"No! It's because I pathetically mourned you, you idiot!" Soshlan hit the vampire on the head again.

"I'm thirsty," Janryu said with a yawn and his fangs coming out, making Soshlan go and hide behind a sitting Kroy.

"Go hunt, but make sure you are not followed. We won't leave until after this man is able to walk." Angelus pointed precisely at Kroy. Angelus then gave everyone their weapons and accessories and even placed the belt with sacks that belonged to the leader child around Harry's waist, placed the bronze cuffs on Harry's wrists, the fingerless gloves on Harry's hands, and placed the scabbard on Harry's body. He vanished the bronze sword and replaced it with the silver one in the sheath. "I think I will make him forget her..." Angelus said about to remove his right glove.

"You can't do that!" Neville's hand grabbed the man's arm. "That is not right!"

"It will be only temporary. He'll remember as soon as we finish our mission in Pakkon. Remembering before that will make him interfere in the mission."

Neville still wasn't sure. "Shouldn't you give him a chance? I think he is capable of controlling himself!"

"Emotions always interfere," Angelus stated. "And with the changes he is experiencing his feelings might become out of control, and if his interior becomes out of control it will reflect outside. There might be chaos, Neville." Neville was amazed to hear the man call him by his name. In the end, he nodded, considering that it would be temporary.

Angelus removed the glove and pressed his fingers on Harry's blue streaked scalp, then removed them and covered the hand like before. Everyone simply observed, not saying anything. Kroy agreed completely with Angelus as he considered Harry being somewhat impulsive, but at the same time could sympathize with Neville. Still, he refrained from having a say in the matter. Perhaps it would be for the better in the end and Kroy somehow trusted Angelus' reasoning, but there was something that Kroy couldn't handle. "Angelus..." The messily white haired man looked at the dark blonde one. "I don't think I will be able to do much in these long robes..."

Angelus' eyes seemed to smile as he opened a sack he had on his belt and conjured copycat fluttery white clothes for Kroy.

XxXxX

Two hours passed before Kroy was able to walk and they restarted their journey with Angelus carrying Harry for a while, but Harry woke up after some time and walked along with everyone feeling numb, knowing that something important was missing from his mind, but trying to ignore it.

They stopped in a deserted area and Angelus used his staff to touch some rocks, making them turn into a circle surrounding them. Then, he created a beam that traced itself inside the circle in a rhombus shape. The rhombus glowed and Angelus made them all move into the rhombus.

"What are we doing?" Harry asked the mysterious man.

"We are going to travel to another continent. In that continent we'll visit five lands in the following order: Pakkon, Baskuran, Xaphan, Ryoll, and Zanoa. Is this the first time you go to a continent?" They all nodded. "Things will be a little different from how they have been before. We are to make training side quests that are independent from looking for the fragments. Is that clear?" Neville looked at Harry and Harry lowered his head. There was something familiar about two of the lands mentioned, about Baskuran and Zanoa, but he couldn't remember well. He was extremely sure especially of the word Zanoa from somewhere, but couldn't remember well. Had he heard it in a dream? His mind was fuzzy, as if someone had tampered with it and he wondered if it could be true, but why would someone tamper with his mind?

Angelus made walls come from the rhombus, making it tri-dimensional. They started to float inside the rhombus and then they all vanished, appearing all of a sudden in what really was the middle of the desert. "Is this a desert?" asked Luna worried.

"From here we'll walk," Angelus announced.

"Are you mad, old man?" Janryu retorted in exasperation. He had been under Angelus' care for three weeks and two days, recovering. The man had taken good care of him in a cave, as the vampire had been weakened in the fire. Janryu had almost burned indeed, but the man had felt like rescuing him for some reason. Angelus had told him that he would be needed in the quest; that he had been chosen. Janryu didn't believe any of that, but if it meant being rescued from turning into a broiled vampire, he didn't care.

Angelus raised an eyebrow in Janryu's direction. "Why does walking make me mad?"

"Because we are in the middle of a damned desert! You want to kill us under a blazing sun or something? What time is it in this country anyway! And I'm a vampire! Only a vampire who is suicidal would walk through a desert!"

Angelus sighed and removed a mantle that he used over his shoulder and gave it to Janryu. "Here, use this as a turban or hood."

"Thanks!" the vampire exclaimed quickly covering his head with the mantle.

After three hours under the sun and several physical encounters with desert fiends, the whole group was tired except for Kroy and Angelus. Kroy seemed to enjoy the sun pretty much on his already tanned skin while Janryu seemed like he could wilt, even when they could only see the vampire's eyes. "Please, let's use Apparition. This really is madness!" Harry exclaimed agreeing with what the vampire had said before.

"You can all have a drink of water. You all have leather jugs attached to your belts, but we have to continue on foot. This place is full of creatures and mages that detect magic. If we teleport we'll simply reveal our location and we do not want that."

"Can't we at least fly?" Soshlan asked. "Harry has confirmed that he can fly, Janryu can fly in his vampire creature form, I can fly, you can fly, and Kroy can fly in his Pegasus form. The ones that can't fly can be carried! Kroy can handle Luna and Neville as a Pegasus and any other of us can carry Nemaisse so--"

"We can't. Look upwards." Soshlan looked at the sky, not understanding. "It's an empty sky. There's nothing to cover us. Don't you think that it would be amusing for creatures, fiends, and other beings to see so many people flying?"

Soshlan lowered his head in defeat at Angelus' answer. "It's so tiring, sir! By the time we get to that city called Pakkon we'll be exhausted!"

"Do not worry, child. I do not expect us to fight much in Pakkon. Except for the fragment's guardian that is."

Harry suddenly reacted: "The last fragment didn't have a guardian!"

"No?" Angelus asked and Harry shook his head. "There is always a guardian. Where was the fragment?"

"In some queen's room..." Harry then realized the obvious. Kharainne had been the fragment's guardian.

"The guardians vary, Harry. Do not expect them to always be fiends. Did you fight the guardian or did she willingly give you the fragment?"

"We had to fight in a certain sense..." Harry felt almost dumb. The women had indeed wanted to seduce and eat them after all. "I feel like I'm forgetting something!" Harry added out of the blue.

"You will remember in due time. Do not worry," Angelus said sympathetically. The others sent pitied gazes in Harry's direction and he felt those gazes piercing through him. They were definitely hiding something from him, but he couldn't analyze it as just then two giant vultures and a giant scorpion attacked them.

Harry went against the scorpion with his sword and chopped its venomous tail while Luna hit the scorpion's head with her staff. Nemaisse blew a strange powder into the scorpion's three sets of eyes making it blind and go berserk. Harry dodged the crazy scorpion and chopped it little by little until it vanished.

Soshlan produced a boomerang and enlarged it before sending it against one of the vultures while Janryu and Kroy threw knives and scales against the other. Neville shot the same scorpion Soshlan had attacked and in very little time the elven fairy and the human destroyed the vulture, alternating forces.

Janryu kept throwing knives with Kroy by his side producing scales that protruded from the palms of his hands. The knives hurt the vulture, but the scales burned into its skin and started to melt it until it disintegrated. All the while Angelus simply observed the team as he had done with all the previous fights they had had throughout the desert.

One more hour later, they finally arrived in Pakkon. The sky was already dark and starry by the time they got there. They were hungry and worn out from walking so much plus fighting. All of them were also sunburned. "Should we look for a place to spend the night?" Harry asked Angelus.

"No. Too risky. We will camp here." The man removed his right glove, raised his hand, and opened it. From his palm came a dust that started to unite and little by little formed tents for them. "We will eat and sleep here," said Angelus as he dressed his hand. "Two per tent. Kroy with Janryu, Soshlan with Neville, Luna with Nemaisse--" He then stared at Harry. "--and you and me."

Harry again felt that strange sensation of something or someone missing from his mind as he was supposed to share a tent with that strange man, but ignored the feeling once more. He also felt strange at noticing that Angelus knew all their names when they had never introduced themselves to him. "What are you? What kind of creature?" the teen asked.

"You will learn when the time comes. Now let's eat. You will find bread, cheese, and other nourishing supplies in your sacks." Harry kept looking at the man transfixed.

XxXxX

In the morning, the adventurers were all ready to enter Pakkon. Harry immediately made the scanning and identified the place where the fragment was. "It's in the center of the city!" he exclaimed. "What does that mean?"

"It means that we have to ready ourselves for whoever or whatever the guardian is. Let's go." Angelus' authoritative voice made them all follow him, making Harry feel awkward. He never wanted to be a leader, but now that there was someone else in charge he felt a little annoyed. The man was starting to remind him of a certain headmaster that had always wanted to control his life in different ways. Harry then remembered something about the headmaster. He had seen Al in a dream and the boy had said that he was the present one.

"Angelus!" The man looked at Harry in response. "Is there someone else from our world here in Larakain?"

Angelus frowned and stated: "He shouldn't be here. He has been summoned by the dark lord and unfortunately I can't do anything for him. He will fulfill a new mission, yes, but it won't be a nice one. He is needed though, in order to destroy both dark lords that is. The source that will link both worlds approaches. We have to avoid chaos from spreading if both worlds collide. Yes, he will be needed, but..." Angelus lowered his gaze. "Let's go on."

Harry didn't like the sound of that. He wasn't sure if he had understood right, but if he had, then Dumbledore was in Larakain too, but that wasn't all. Earth and Larakain colliding? Chaos spreading? Destroy both dark lords? Harry was starting to feel agitated, but tried to calm down. "Why is he in child form, Angelus?"

"I believe the answer to that question is fairly obvious, Harry. Think."

The teen did realize the answer. Angelus had just said that Al had been summoned by the dark lord and Nebureth wanted children, not very old men. Dumbledore had been lured into a trap. "We should rescue him!"

"We will not interfere with his destiny. He chose it, he'll deal with it." Harry glared at Angelus and kicked a rock in anger. "Your magical form is too impulsive, child. Your mutation..." Angelus stopped himself. "Forget it. It will be unleashed and then I'll confirm my suspicions."

"You know my magical form?" Harry forgot about his anger in seconds. "What is it? Am I a winged unicorn?" Harry suddenly grabbed his head as he felt excruciating pain there as he remembered the words 'winged unicorn'. "Did you tamper with my memories?" he asked in renewed rage.

"You will remember. Do not worry about it," Angelus said as before. "And about your form..." The man sighed. "You might be, but not like _them_. You will always be different."

By the time they entered the city Harry had calmed down, but he still had too many things on his mind. He had a bad feeling that he would be rejected if his magical form was unleashed. He was getting wary about it and wished that it would never show up, but in his heart, he knew he would transform. He also knew that it would be very soon.

The city was a very active one and even seemed advanced in comparison to other towns. There seemed to be lots of machinery and even moving human like machines that reminded Harry of robots.

In little time, they located the fragment. It was floating right in the middle of the city, above buildings. The fragment glowed and started its descent. Soon it was at their level and floated towards Neville, entering the boy. Neville smiled and everything seemed fine until the people of the city started to surround them. "Give it back!" a very old man exclaimed. "That is our protective totem! It gives us hope and luck! You cannot take it!"

The adventurers seemed in shock. "But we have to!" Harry decided to reason with the old man. "It's a summon fragment and we need them to complete our mission!"

The people ignored Harry's words. They kept screaming and yelling:

"Give it back!"

"That's ours!"

"Thieves!"

"Scoundrels!"

"Filthy bandits!"

"That's our sacred symbol!"

"Please! Hear us!" Harry kept trying to explain, but the people wouldn't listen to him. They started to transform into dark green fiends with huge red eyes and very pointy teeth. Their hands were disproportionately big and had three long fingers with long nails. They also had very big feet and they emitted a loud screeching howl that hurt the heroes' ears.

Neville raised his right hand and yelled over the screeching noises: "GRYPHONER!" The griffin soared into the sky and produced strong winds that scattered the horrendous creatures everywhere, but not harming them in any way. "I THINK WE SHOULD RUN!" The young man suggested and they all agreed. As they were the only ones unaffected by Gryphoner's winds escaping wasn't too difficult. They ran all the way through the city until they came out through the city's other side, panting. Just as they were completely out of the city Gryphoner flew towards them and returned to Neville's body.

"Were those people possessed?" Janryu asked placing his hands on a tree's trunk for support.

"No idea," replied Soshlan putting his back against the same tree as he gasped for breath.

"You did well, Neville. That was very wise and you didn't hurt any of those people." Neville blinked in disbelief when Angelus congratulated him.

"You call that people?" Harry asked. "They looked like monsters to me..."

"They were definitely very interesting people in my opinion." Luna said looking at Angelus.

"Those were that city's inhabitants. They weren't fiends even if they take that form. Not everything that looks like a monster is one and not everything that looks beautiful is good. You too also have companions that turn into what common people consider monsters. Remember that," stated Angelus referring to Janryu and Kroy. "As for our next destination--" Angelus wasn't able to complete his sentence.

"Dianeia!" Harry remembered. Just like Angelus had told them it would be, Harry remembered right after they completed their small mission in Pakkon. "We have to go to Baskuran!" He stared at Angelus with incredulity adorning his face. "You made me forget, didn't you?"

"It was for the be--"

"Don't you ever do it again!" Harry warned, but controlling his temper.

Angelus responded with a half smile that they couldn't see: "I won't, child. I won't."

* * *

It's a calmer ending, right? Right? Although you might want to strangle me for the ending of the chapter that comes next... -cowers in fear- But as that one hasn't been posted yet I do hope I'm off the hook for now! 

**Thanks to the people that reviewed: lovenotknown, HitoshirenzuKage, and bandgsecurtiyaw**

_Please leave a review. _


	19. A Dark Symphony

Author's Notes: An early gift. I might take a little longer with the next, but hopefully I won't reach the two week span!

Thanks to **Menecarkawan **for beta-reading and sending this back sooner than I expected!

Song: 'Ai No Melody' and 'Chouwa oto -with reflection-' by Kokia (From Gin-iro no Kami no Agito - movie)

* * *

**Ch. 19: A Dark Symphony**

The fourteen year old looking boy was hidden in a cave along with his familiar. The fire bird chirped as it flew around in alertness, making sure that its human wouldn't be captured any time soon. So far they had kept hiding from the dark lord and Al wondered when his luck would finally change for the worse. He had kept trying to create a link with Harry, but his only attempt hadn't gone well at all. He had been discovered by the evil lord and had almost been caught. He and Fawkes had managed to flee yet again, but from then on contacting Harry had turned into an impossible task.

Al tried everything in his power to contact Harry again, but something was wrong. Harry's mind had become volatile, clouded and thus had closed itself making it difficult for The-Boy-Who-Lived to be reached.

The boy that had been Dumbledore didn't give up easily. He kept manipulating magic, trying to make his mind soar, looking for the teen he had believed needed his help. It didn't matter that Harry seemed unreachable. Al had to keep trying because he didn't want Harry to go through the same things he had. He knew things that Harry didn't and could almost curse himself for having always been so awkward with the Potter boy. He could never erase the image of Harry's anguish after Sirius Black's death and had never stopped blaming himself for it. He should have trained Harry in Occlumency himself, but had thought Severus would be a better option. He should have known better. The hate Severus had felt for James was still being channeled against James Potter's son.

Dumbledore smiled at his familiar. "It's alright, Fawkes. I'm sure that we'll be safe here for a while." The phoenix trilled and landed on the auburn haired boy's left shoulder. It pecked the boy's ear and Al started to caress the bird's crown, making it emit a sound that sounded like a giggle. "We won't be able to remain here for too long, right? He is tracking us, that lord." The boy sighed. "I have to keep trying Fawkes. I have to find Harry, but he is blocking me unknowingly! There's some magic in him that has completely taken over his mind. I wonder if he already found the summon with which he will combine-- Just like when I chose to combine with Phaisanny... I have a bad feeling Fawkes. I fear that Larakain and Earth might collide at some point. This dark lord is doing something strange and I truly hope he won't penetrate Hogwarts. Not even Voldemort has been able to do so, but unfortunately, Miss Granger revealed to the dark lord from this world, an almost easy way to enter."

XxXxX

Baskuran wasn't very far from Pakkon, but throughout the short journey, Harry was in a foul mood. Something kept stirring inside him, something that desperately wanted to rip his body apart. He could feel some sort of spirit that kept trying to take over his body, his magic, and his senses. For now Harry kept those feelings tamed, but he knew that it would only take a few more drops to make the water spill, a little more air to make the balloon burst.

He was suddenly panting and crouched on the ground. Angelus placed a hand on his left shoulder and spoke not to Harry, but to Harry's spirit: "Not yet. Just a little longer, but not yet." Harry felt a calm sweeping over him and he relaxed. He stood up and they kept on walking toward the city where many winged unicorns were suffering from slavery.

XxXxX

The winged unicorn with a shimmery pink alicorn kept staring at the other creatures of her species. She was in chains just like the others and if they kept whinnying as a means of complaining, they were whipped. So far, she had been whipped ten times and her whole body hurt. Her right wing was bleeding and probably broken, but she couldn't do anything about it. Her magic had been cancelled through a special ring placed on her horn. She couldn't even transform back into a human.

She occasionally glanced into the distance, wishing to see her friends coming, but wondered if they would even consider rescuing her. Tears came from her pink eyes as the sensation of complete abandonment encompassed her. They had a mission and that mission would never include rescuing her. After all, Nemaisse had been rescued by mere coincidence. The bounty hunter caravan had just happened to come by...

Just then, a man in armor came and grabbed the muzzle of the one next to her. He was a silvery winged unicorn with a yellow horn and hair.

Dianeia observed as her neighbour's ring was removed from his alicorn . They were testing his magic, but he wasn't a mage. They were indeed magical creatures, but not all of them were mages. Only a few were, but the horns always had great magic and were sold at exorbitant prices on the black market. She did come from a family of mages, but wasn't sure about the luck her neighbour winged unicorn would encounter.

As she had feared, she saw when the man in armor shook his head and a dark mage came with a special scimitar. She closed her teary eyes as the scimitar came down and cut her neighbour's alicorn. She heard the painful neighing and the sudden human form of that winged unicorn falling limp on the ground. She opened her eyes and saw a yellow haired young man of about eighteen years old in chains and unconscious and with his forehead's gem missing. Seeing that he was so young immediately reminded her of Harry, her Harry. She wondered if Harry would ever come for her or go on. She wished Harry would go on and complete his mission, but at the same time, she wanted to be rescued. It was a great dilemma and now she felt that she had failed Nhuriel and would never see Harry again.

Lost in thoughts, Dianeia didn't even notice when they were observing her just like they had with the young man that was now being taken away by two soldiers. As he was technically a child, he would be sent to the dark lord's domain, the land of Azfarath.

Dia came out of her reverie and with a saddened gaze saw as the man in armor approved of her, even without removing the ring that cancelled her power. They wanted her whole and not just her alicorn, but she knew that could be temporary luck. Some mages had ended up hornless after being drained of plenty of their magic in hard labour that required lots of magical life energy. The hornless children were sent to Azfarath while the hornless adults were sent to slavery in the magical stone mines of Pliarash.

The man in armor started to pull her chain to separate her from other winged unicorns. She wondered what they wanted and fear crept through her as she heard a man that looked like a bounty hunter speaking to the dark mage. "Of course I'm sure! When we got them she was sharing a bed with the boy."

"Were they naked?" the dark mage asked.

"No, sir. They were both in sleeping garments."

"Then they were just sharing the--"

"No, sir! We observed them for three days before we captured them and it was obvious that she was romantically involved with the boy. As the children from the other world escaped we can use her as bait to get them back!"

The mage looked very interested in what the man that had been evidently involved in the kidnapping in Chikbo Town had revealed. She would never be used to lure Harry. She preferred death to being the cause of Harry being captured again if he had escaped. "It's true that our great lord, Nebureth, has been enraged after learning that those children escaped. Perhaps your idea might be a good one. We will use the winged animal then." Dianeia felt fury inside her at being called an animal by the dark mage, but she shouldn't have expected less. Her heart still quivered at the thought of being used. She started to thrash in the chains knowing full well that she could bring a lashing upon herself, but she didn't care anymore. She wanted to break those chains.

In her desperate attempt, she felt excruciating pain as the bone in one of her hind legs snapped. She immediately lost her balance and fell just as the whipping came. The tears kept coming from her eyes as the agony swallowed her whole, but her worst agony wasn't physical. Her worst agony was the hurt screaming inside her.

Right after the whipping stopped the dark mage caressed her mane almost tenderly. She felt nauseated as she noticed the smirk adorning his lips, but was surprised when she felt the healing magic surrounding her with warmth that she despised. Even her broken bone and wing were healed. She wondered why the mage was healing her, but had her suspicions. They probably wanted to make a spectacle out of her and they probably needed her to look unharmed for that purpose. She wanted to spit in the mage's face, but refrained from doing so, but no matter what she was going to look for a way to escape.

XxXxX

Harry and his companions were fighting yet again. Ever since they had started to approach Baskuran the fiends seemed to have multiplied. Neville finished destroying a blobbed creature with a combination technique of a water spurt and a high kick. As the monster vanished, Neville was surprised to see silver cuffs that he immediately used to replace his old bronze ones. In a while, they noticed that the blobbed monsters always left those kinds of cuffs behind so in a short while they were all wearing silver cuffs, including the ones from that world.

They arrived at the entrance to Baskuran when another kind of fiend blocked their way. Two immense minotaurs stood in front of them, smoke coming from their nostrils. Harry tried his sword and confirmed that weapons weren't good against those fiends. He was about to summon Lamorte, but Neville beat him to it. They all saw a black parallelogram come from the boy's left palm and hover above the minotaurs. The minotaurs looked upwards and started to send some magic bolts against the parallelogram, but it descended on them. The two creatures fell to the ground as if a force was pushing them, then the black figure completely crushed them. By the time it lifted itself to return to Neville, there was nothing left in front of the adventurers.

Neville grinned at Harry and said, "You've just met Gravittos."

The group proceeded towards the city, but Angelus stopped them. "Something is not right. They are expecting us."

Harry raised an eyebrow and started to ask, "How do you know--" But he was unable to finish the question as he saw a winged unicorn being suspended in the air by chains. It thrashed between the chains trying to free itself, but the chains shocked her, obviously hurting her. "Those monsters!" Harry started to run and Angelus tried to stop him.

"No, Harry! Not yet! You have to wait! WAIT!" Angelus' words were carried away by the wind.

Harry didn't care about anything else except for getting Dianeia out of those chains. As he got closer to where Dianeia was suspended a strong wave repelled him. He fell on his back and tried to lunge again, but the wave threw him backwards once more. He was getting angrier and angrier and not even knowing what he was doing, he placed his right palm on the earth causing the whole perimeter to shake and the force field to start crumbling.

Dark mages that saw Harry start to destroy the energy wall smirked triumphantly as they sent some energy ropes to bind the boy. Harry screamed as he felt those ropes trying to neutralize his magic, but to the mages' surprise and horror, he reacted fast and repelled the ropes. They weren't going to give up easily though. They kept trying to send neutralizing binds, but an almost glowing Harry kept sending them away. They kept bouncing on him as if he had some sort of protective barrier around him. At that, one of the mages became very angry as he saw Harry cutting the chains that held Dianeia with different spells. Just as the last chain was ripped apart, the enraged mage threw a spear at Dianeia and the winged unicorn was completely pierced through, emitting a terrible scream before falling to the ground. The other dark mage quickly went and with a scimitar cut Dianeia's alicorn in front of Harry's eyes.

Harry couldn't believe what was happening. His whole mind clouded as he screamed, the hurt lurking inside him completely ripping his soul apart. The spirit inside him snapped completely and the skies darkened and became thunderous above them.

Neville fearfully turned to Angelus. "An electric storm? Harry is producing an electric storm? And is she dead?"

Angelus shook his head: "Something worse. I think I was wrong about his mutation after all. He did choose right. We have to look for cover fast because this will turn very ugly although not even a building might be safe for what's coming. No one can stop it now because he is broken." Angelus turned to Luna. "You have to produce the most powerful shielding ellipse you can. The rest also have to help sustain the shield. About the woman... I have no idea."

Luna and the rest looked alarmed and nervous, but started to work on what had just been requested from the white haired man. Luna created the elliptical shield around them while Kroy, Nemaisse, Neville, Soshlan, Janryu, and lastly Angelus placed lots of their magic on it to support it, still not knowing exactly what was going to happen. They had seen everything and were shocked as they saw Dianeia regain her human form on the ground, but with a spear through her body.

As the heavens became almost pitch black the thunderstorm worsened and Harry screamed again as his body started to change. He felt his clothes becoming one with him, as though blending into his skin, as he had seen happen with the other magical people from that world. The image of Dianeia being pierced through and her horn being severed wouldn't leave his mind and it haunted him, making him lose his mind even more into his new form. Soon he didn't know what was happening anymore except for the rage that wanted him to destroy everything in sight.

"Oh no..." were the words that escaped Soshlan's lips as he saw what Harry had become.

"Not the legendary one... This can't be! A human was the one destined to--" Kroy was full of disbelief as he saw what had previously been Harry take flight.

"He looks scary," said Neville.

"No. He looks gorgeous," Luna stated with dreamy eyes.

Nemaisse lips trembled as Janryu made an expression of confusion and asked: "So, is that dark or light?"

Angelus replied: "Both. Now get ready because it comes!"

Everyone screamed or gasped except for Angelus as the creature ascended and seemed to merge with the blackened heavens and a rain that was certainly not water began. Rocks of many shapes and sizes started to enter the atmosphere. The meteors crashed against the earth causing the whole ground to shatter. Buildings were being destroyed under the dangerous downpour. Neville paled as he saw the meteors crashing everywhere and destroying the city almost leveling it to the ground, but at the same time, by some sort of miracle some sporadic buildings seemed to be shielded in the same way they were. That detail also caught Angelus' eyes and he said in a soft tone: "Smart boy. He feels where the innocents lie." The others stared at Angelus for a few seconds, but the meteor shower kept thundering around them and the adventurers blanched in fear, expecting one of the giant rocks to collide against their protective barrier and crush them. Angelus sighed and reassured them: "If you watch closely you'll see that some buildings are being protected. Do not fear. He won't exterminate us, not even by accident."

Screams kept coming from the city that was being bombarded, but the creature wasn't completely mad. Like the adventurers had observed there were shields protecting every being that was innocent, but all of the dark lord's servants were being consumed and killed instantly, not only by the smashing meteors, but by fiery rocks that were also pouring from the sky.

Luna blinked as she saw buildings and soldiers being crushed until nothing was left of them. The terrible storm didn't last long though. It only lasted about ten minutes, but to many, it seemed like the longest ten minutes of their lives. Angelus seemed relieved when he said: "It's finally over."

The city lay in ruins and the land was full of impact craters, but with many shields somehow protecting the places full of innocent lives in the midst of the many fires and smoke. Luna summoned Undine and the female looking summon flew upwards until she disappeared into the sky like what Harry had become did. Just as the rain started, a black winged bicorn with jet-black hair with shimmery sapphire streaks started to descend from the heavens. The creature had two onyx alicorns with golden spirals around them instead of just one horn, which would have made it a unicorn. The frontal alicorn was smaller than the one behind.

From the strange winged bicorn's nostrils came smoke, clearly implying that it could breathe fire. It looked majestic as it slowly landed on the ground in front of a shielded body that had been pierced through. The creature started to nuzzle the seemingly dead body's face and then it dropped on its legs, steal nuzzling the girl as it silently wept.

Angelus motioned for the group to follow him. They all stopped close to where the obsidian winged bicorn and the girl's limp form were in the middle of the constantly falling water. Undine descended when the fires subsided and the strong rain changed into a mild drizzle as Undine returned to Luna's body. Luna and Nemaisse were both crying as they saw Dianeia like that. The possibility of Dianeia being dead was beginning to sink in and not even knowing who she was embracing Luna held the first person she found in front of her. Nemaisse did the same, hiding her face in a man's stomach, which was where she reached. The mas was Kroy, and he carefully placed his hands on Nemaisse's shoulders while Janryu embraced Luna back.

Angelus and Neville approached the creature and the woman and the still mysterious man cut the spear's edge that protruded through Dianeia's back. He then proceeded to cut the shaft. After doing this, he uncovered his right glowing hand and placed it on Dianeia's chest. He closed his eyes and a magical aura formed around the girl. All through this, the bicorn observed, not trying anything. It looked completely numb and its emerald eyes with sapphire borders were wet.

The mysterious man's eyes were closed, but then he opened them and his golden orbs brightened. Neville stared as the man removed his other glove and prepared both hands. He made the rest of the spear vanish and placed a hand on each hole before the blood could spurt. In seconds, he had sealed the girl's wounds and he turned to Neville: "Summon the girl's alicorn."

The boy nodded and whispered: "_Accio Dianeia's alicorn_." He was almost surprised when the horn came to him from under some ruins. Even though the dark mage that had severed it had been turned into nothing under the 'meteor-rain' the horn had been magically preserved.

"Thank you," muttered Angelus as he received the glittery pink alicorn and attached it to Dianeia's head. It immediately turned into the pink gem the girl always hid under long headbands that weren't unusual in the world called Larakain, so not exclusive to the unicorn people. Neville gasped as he saw Angelus starting to remove his mask for the first time. He expected to see something ugly or an abnormal mouth, but certainly not what he was seeing. Angelus' face was childlike and truly angelic, but Neville was sure Angelus was no child. The deep voice the man had certainly didn't match such juvenile and beautiful features. Angelus opened his mouth and connected it to Dianeia's, making Neville cringe. Neville almost expected Harry to attack the man by that point, but the black bicorn simply remained seated, waiting.

After Angelus broke the connection, he glanced at the bicorn and spoke: "I need to merge some of your blood with hers." The bicorn looked hopeful and inclined its head. At that gesture, Angelus took a breath and as he did a dark violet sphere came from inside the bicorn. Angelus carefully held the small sphere with his golden glowing hands, opened Dianeia's mouth and inserted it. He then quickly covered his hands and half his face again. "Now we have to wait. Can you transform back?" The bicorn stared at the man and shook its head. "You're simply not ready, but soon you'll be able to regain your human form."

The others approached the scene and sat close to Dianeia. They waited for half an hour until the girl opened her eyes. She looked extremely weak, but was alive. Angelus looked at her and said: "You must be one of the most blessed people I've ever met. That spear missed your vital organs by mere centimeters."

Dianeia gave the man a faint smile, but gasped when she saw the obsidian winged bicorn. Realization slapped her and she looked horrified. "Harry? Oh my God... Not the legendary one! But this can't be! Why are you dark and light at the same time?" She sat up with difficulty and touched the creature. It relaxed under her soft slender fingers. "Oh Harry... I'm so sorry... Now I'm not sure if they'll accept you..."

"Why not?" asked Kroy. "He is the legendary black winged bicorn! Why wouldn't they accept him?"

"Because even if he might be worshipped by some, others will never accept the fact that he is dark and light at the same time. In human form he has white wings while in magical form his wings are black, light and dark. In a certain sense, he is now like you," Dianeia replied while caressing the bicorn's slightly wavy mane. She then added almost in a whisper: "By the way, thank you, for coming for me..." Just then, the bicorn started to lose its form and Harry slumped into Dianeia's arms, holding her firmly, not letting go. It almost seemed like he feared that she would vanish from his arms if he loosened his grip on her. In the end he softened his embrace, but captured her lips, ignoring that everyone else was there watching.

Angelus cleared his throat making Harry break the kiss and look at him. "I'm glad that she is alive too. I won't link her to me because she is now linked to you by blood, but that is not the important thing. We have to free the people that are here. Nebureth must have perceived the strong magic deployed here so we have to free the slaves and flee from this city toward Xaphan, which is our next destination."

Shortly they had entered the destroyed city of Baskuran and looked in every one of the still miraculously standing buildings, rescuing winged unicorns everywhere. They removed the rings that didn't allow the winged unicorns to regain their human forms and soon the creature filled ruins were full of human looking people. There were chests with alicorns that were placed back on their owners, but there were more alicorns than people there due to the ones that had been already sent to other places. A man with long orange hair named Kymo agreed to protect the alicorns. He would take them to his people where they were to be properly saved until their owners were rescued.

Harry was amazed as he saw how many people he had saved from being crushed under the meteor attack even when there were so many craters everywhere. He still couldn't understand why he could control meteorites. Just trying to think about it gave him a headache, but not as much as his magical form. He wasn't sure if he loved his magical form. He felt it was hideous in comparison to the whiteness and silveriness of the normal winged unicorns. There was also the fact that he wasn't a unicorn, but a bicorn. Kroy told him that when the bicorn reached a full adult form both horns would be of the same size, and Harry would be bigger. That was a bit scary as the bicorn was impressively big from what Neville had described to him.

The leveled down city was left empty and full of smoke after the span of two hours. Harry and his companions continued toward Xaphan, wondering what they would encounter there. Harry knew it wouldn't be a fragment. The next fragment was in the land called Zanoa. The order they were following came from a map Angelus showed them, but Harry couldn't understand why it had to be in that order.

XxXxX

The dormitory was in darkness and the remaining boys were peacefully slumbering. Ever since the first day of school, two beds had remained empty. Those beds were Neville Longbottom's and Harry Potter's. The other beds contained the sleeping forms of Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Ronald Weasley. The tall red haired boy slept in tranquility, ignoring the image that had been taking shape in the full-length mirror in their room. Two putrid looking enlarged hands had formed and had started to come out of the mirror, the arms growing, looking like tree branches. Those arms kept making their way toward its sleeping target, knowing exactly which boy had contacted another in Larakain. The arms could only touch the boy that had made contact and soon the decaying hands opened the bed's curtains.

Blue eyes fluttered open and the boy's face turned to see the open curtains and the hands there. The boy's lips parted and trembled as his eyes could see what was there even in the middle of the dark. Ron straightened himself and pressed his back against the wall, not knowing what to do. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out as the hands approached his waist. One of the hands grabbed part of his button down pajama shirt while the other caressed his red straight hair before sliding down to the shirt like the other hand had. The redhead's right hand moved between the blankets, looking for the weapon hidden in between, but the fear caused by those branch like horrid arms were preventing him from accomplishing grabbing the much needed stick. Ron swallowed and closed his eyes as his hand finally grabbed his objective and the hands full of warts closed around his waist to take him away.

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**Thanks to lovenotknown, ****Fk306 animelover****, and ****bandgsecurtiyaw. Hope you enjoyed Harry's mutation. **

**_Please review. _:)**


	20. Draconians

Thanks to Menecarkawan for editing!

Song: 'Burning Dance' by M.O.V.E

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**Ch. 20: Draconians**

The young man was breathing fast in his nervousness as he grabbed his wand from under the sheets of his bed. "Reducto!" he cried frantically. The spell went through the branch-like enlarged arms and hit the mirror, shattering it. Ron had become quite the mirror destroyer, but he now believed Hermione. His best friend had been paranoid whenever she got close to mirrors and he now knew she was right. They had opened a powerful link between the place where Harry was and Hogwarts and had no idea how to close it.

Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan opened their curtains and stared at the redhead, who was still holding his wand, and then they stared at the broken mirror. "Had a bad dream?" Dean asked in a wondering tone as he observed the many shards scattered upon the floor.

"Yeah... Something like that..." replied Ron looking numb, his eyes still on what had been a mirror. He was shocked and still getting goose bumps all over his body, but he almost felt stupid. Seamus and Dean had no idea of what he had just seen and now it all seemed like an illusion. With the crumbling of the mirror, the arms and hands that had been grabbing him had disappeared without a trace within seconds.

Hermione was sleeping peacefully in the girls' dormitory. Ever since she had become paranoid around mirrors, she had started a ritual of covering the mirror in the dormitory before bedtime. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil found Hermione's behaviour very strange, but didn't dare make any comments about it. Instead, they were getting used to Hermione ceremoniously placing a blanket over the mirror every night. She had told Ron to do the same, but he told her she was being silly and that he would look ridiculous doing such a thing. Of course, in the morning she would learn that Ron had discovered the hard way that she had been right all along.

XxXxX

Al was panting as he ran, Fawkes keeping a constant eye on him. Once more they had been discovered and had to abandon yet another hiding spot. Al knew that there was only one choice. He had to leave that land. The land in which he was trapped was going to be Harry's final stage to leave Larakain. Al wasn't even supposed to be there because it was not his mission to defeat the new Dark Lord of Larakain. He was still cursing himself for having been so blind and not seeing behind those strange dreams. Harry didn't need his help! Harry had companions and friends just as he had had in his own time. Something Al knew for sure after erring in his actions by reacting on impulse rather than common sense was that everything happened for a reason, therefore he must have appeared here as his fourteen-year-old self for a purpose. The problem was that he would never agree with that reason. The Dark Lord Harry had to vanquish in Larakain wasn't going to be even with Harry's power level by the time Harry reached those obscure lands. That would make the Dark Lord somewhat easy prey even if he had the energy of all the children of that world. Al had been appalled when he had discovered the tiny little detail that the Dark Lord was using the energy from children, which was the exact reason why he was in the form of a teenaged boy. He had learned that truth from listening to the soldiers that were constantly tailing him. They kept jeering and mocking him by stating that he was to become another child energy source for their ruler.

Al stopped and got behind the very thick trunk of an old tree. He couldn't run anymore. Even if he was physically a fourteen-year-old boy, he hadn't run like that in too many years. He wasn't used to it. Fawkes trilled, wanting Al to continue running, but Al dropped on his knees and shook his head lowering it, a mane of auburn hair falling messily around his face because it had gotten loose during their escape. "I can't, Fawkes. I might be doomed this time." Al looked back and saw armored soldiers coming. Feeling drained from so many previous fights he still stood up, his breathing fast paced and difficult.

The soldiers surrounded him, but Al combined with Fawkes and burned several of those soldiers to the ground, but his magic was declining, making him become weaker. More soldiers came and the magical combination between phoenix and human was lost. Al fell to the ground unconscious and Fawkes got on top of his human protectively, almost defying anyone who would try to grab Al.

One of the soldiers spoke: "Get rid of the bird." A soldier prepared to land his sword on Fawkes, but just then, there was an explosion and the only thing that could be heard were the screams of the soldiers. By the time the smoke completely dissipated the soldiers lay dead.

Four figures approached Al's limp form and a pointy eared blonde female with boomerangs attached to her back knelt and checked on him, being allowed by an observant Fawkes. The female spoke, "He is alive, but his magic has been depleted. At this rate he may die. It seems that he has depended solely on magic because he doesn't have a weapon."

A pointy eared and light brown haired man with a bow in his hands and a quiver on his back said then, "He does look like the mighty Al, but how can this be?"

"I am not sure," the female replied. "But it will be better to take him to our village in Shalzra. It's obvious that Nebureth desperately wants him. It's abnormal to send so many soldiers after just one child. We have to leave this land anyway. This place is too unholy." The woman stood up taking a quick glance of their surroundings and the man that had spoken petted Fawkes before lifting Al's form. Fawkes had let them touch his human because he knew that they were elves from that world that could help Dumbledore. The magical bird followed the four elves as they prepared to abandon that land.

XxXxX

Harry and his companions had made camp as far as they could from Baskuran. Dianeia kept studying Harry and all of a sudden, her hands were all over his hair searching for something. "What in the world are you doing, Dia?" he asked with mild annoyance, but laughing nonetheless.

"Wondering why you don't have a gem! How can you have alicorns and no gems?" She kept entangling her fingers on Harry's hair, which was almost pleasurable in Harry's opinion, but he decided to counter by grabbing her by the waist. She reacted, "Hey!" and he hugged her against him and even brushed his body against hers in a decidedly un-innocent way, gaining a deep blush from her. "Don't do that!" she exclaimed and right then her eyes fell on light violet ones. She cleared her throat and she and Harry separated.

Janryu was still staring at them and said, "Really, don't mind me! It was an interesting sight! Of course, I would have enjoyed seeing a little bit more, like you two taking your clothes off and ravishing each other!"

Harry threw a pebble at Janryu and the vampire grinned as he dodged it with ease. At that moment, the three of them were by themselves. Neville and Luna had gone to watch some creatures with Soshlan that Luna insisted were Blibbering Humdingers. Nemaisse had left with Kroy to hunt and look for some plants, flowers, and even certain kinds of weeds that she said she needed. Angelus had also left, but at that moment, he came back. "You are not hunting?" he asked Janryu.

"In a little while, maybe." Janryu then gazed at Angelus. "Are you going to stay with us, gramps?"

"Not for long. I'll leave you before we reach Zanoa."

"Why is that?" asked Harry curiously.

"It has to be like that. In Zanoa you will have to make a very important decision that might seal a particular future. I cannot interfere, thus, I cannot be there."

"Where will you be while we are in that place?" Janryu asked.

"Readying myself for whatever comes. I will join you again when the time is right."

"What about Al? Will you go help him while you are not with us?" Harry fixed a hardened gaze on Angelus.

"No. I am not his companion, but help is always available to those that truly need it." Angelus left them and entered a tent, ending the conversation. His words had given Harry a sensation of deja vu from something Dumbledore had told him once.

"Is Al in this world? I thought that guy ought to be dead!" Janryu exclaimed looking at Harry, eyebrows raised in surprise. So far, only Harry and Angelus had been aware of Dumbledore being in Larakain.

"I have no idea what's happening, Janryu, so I am unable to explain much. Sorry. But yes, Al is alive. That, I can easily answer." Harry went alert and stood abruptly when he saw Neville, Luna, Soshlan, and even Nemaisse and Kroy running toward them looking a bit panicked. "What's wrong?"

"We have to leave right this instant!" Neville yelled.

Angelus was out of his tent in seconds and Kroy rapidly blurted: "Some fire spirits are coming this way."

"Fire spirits?" asked Harry and Dianeia at the same time while Janryu paled at the mention of fire.

"Heliopaths! A complete army of them! Like the one Cornelius Fudge has!" Luna said, her protuberant eyes full of excitement.

Harry shrunk the tents and stuffed them in a sack as fast as he could. He glanced in the direction from which his alarmed friends had come from and saw what looked like spiritual flames burning everything in sight and coming their way. "We run!" he commanded. Not needing to be persuaded they immediately started their escape from that area, even though the darkness of the night had just fallen on them. The fire spirits illuminated the land quite nicely, though.

Running as they were, Harry asked Luna, "Doesn't Undine work against them?"

"Already tried!" Luna replied with a slight smile. "Soshlan also tried to create holy rain, but he needs to seriously cry to create it because he can only produce some kinds of magic with his life spirit through strong emotions. There is also the fact that they seem to be defending their territory. I think..." Luna halted her run to look backwards and confirm what she suspected. "Yes, they already turned around. They have already chased us away from their land."

Everyone stopped running and there was relief on their faces as they noticed Luna was right. The Heliopaths were leaving and as they got farther, the darkness of the night became evident. They prepared a new camp for that night where they had stopped running, having rapidly glanced around to learn their surroundings. They were going to dine and they prepared a fire to warm them. In the morning, they would get on their way to Xaphan, but there was a small problem. In the end, Janryu hadn't hunted.

"I cannot feed from fire spirits... Are there any creatures here to actually hunt?" he asked aloud.

Harry and Neville looked at each other and then at the others. Angelus wasn't looking at anyone, but said in a bored tone: "Feed from your companions for tonight and tomorrow you may hunt. You shouldn't leave camp after darkness has fallen even if you are a dark creature. The fiends, beings, and animals from these parts differ greatly from those you are used to and the flying goats must be already hidden in their lairs."

"Flying goats?" Janryu asked raising an eyebrow.

Luna answered hastily and looking thrilled, "He means the Blibbering Humdingers!"

Janryu then smirked as he looked around. "So? Who will be first?" He licked his lips in anticipation and everyone moved back, especially Soshlan who blanched. In the end Dianeia, Kroy, and Harry produced blood spheres that Janryu consumed before they finally ate and went to sleep.

XxXxX

The morning light awoke the travelers and they got on their way after a quick breakfast. Xaphan wasn't very far, but sometimes Harry wondered if at some point they should take a break and stay in a particular town for a few days.

Beautiful girls started to follow them as they journeyed through a weed path. Soshlan got very uptight at the sight of the girls, knowing very well what they were. Harry expected Angelus to say something, but the one to speak was Kroy. "Ignore them. This is gorgon territory, but if we continue without acknowledging their presence they might simply leave us alone."

Dianeia looked calm and it was the same with Luna and Nemaisse, but the younger males seemed strained at the thought of being in gorgon territory. Neville even grabbed Luna's hand and Soshlan kept trying to get between Dianeia and Nemaisse. Harry was a little nervous too, but trying to keep calm. Janryu kept looking at the ground trying his very best not to acknowledge the very pretty girls.

Harry stopped as he felt something coming towards them. "Everyone, stop!" They all obeyed Harry and he started to look around, the strange feeling still within him. His eyes went wide as an exaggeratedly giant cobra came from the insides of a grove like area and stopped in front of them. It stared intently at Harry and comprehension dawned on him. That giant cobra was the gorgon queen, but it was disconcerting to know that all of them could easily fit in the cobra's mouth in just one bite. "_We are not here to disturb you. We simply need to pass through this place_," Harry said in Parseltongue hoping for the best.

Except for Luna and Neville, Harry's companions had no idea about the language in which Harry had spoken to the gorgon queen. They were all staring intently at Harry, wondering about his strange hissing.

The giant cobra lowered her head and got her mouth dangerously close to Harry, making the others adopt fighting stances, but Harry calmed them with a hand gesture. "It's alright," he said.

The cobra replied in Parseltongue, "_It's the first time I meet someone who can speak to me like that. I like you. I may adopt my other form now_."

The gorgon queen changed her form, reducing her size until she became an exceedingly beautiful woman with long flowing dark gray hair. "You know the serpent language," she stated. "And not only that, but you are also the wielder of the great Ouraion." The tall woman that almost resembled Olympe Maxime in height stroked Harry's face, her features set on Harry wantonly and Dianeia closed her fists so hard she could have drawn blood. "If you stay with us I can make you king. As you speak the serpent language and you also have Ouraion none of my children will hurt you." The woman's voice was incredibly soft and enthralling.

"I have a mission to fulfill and also, I am not really interested in being king to anybody. It's a very nice offer, but no thank you."

The queen bowed and spoke again, "We will give you a gift before you continue on your mission." One of the girls brought several light orbs that immediately entered Harry, Neville, and Luna. After that, another girl brought a silver staff. "This might be helpful to one of your companions." Luna extended her arm as if in a trance and the staff floated towards her. She offered her bronze staff to the girl that had brought the silver one and the girl took it and bowed like the queen had done before. "We won't stop you. One hundred meters from here and you will have crossed the border line, abandoning our parts."

"Thank you for everything," Harry replied. He then started to walk and the others followed him wordlessly.

Just as they passed the one hundred meter line, the path changed completely. It was suddenly a shining golden path that almost blinded them as a very warm sunlight reflected on it, but after a few minutes walk there was a cold mist in front of them that prevented them from seeing ahead. Harry turned to Angelus with apprehension. "How long until we reach Xaphan? I don't like that mist." Harry's eyes kept scanning the little area they could see.

"We will arrive at Xaphan in about forty-five minutes, and just so you are aware, this mist has never been part of this road." Automatically all eyes fell on Angelus after he finished saying those words.

Soshlan sprouted his wings and took off at the same time he announced, "I'll take a look from above!"

Harry, Kroy, Angelus, and Janryu reacted in unison because they had felt something approaching, Soshlan hadn't been alert enough. "Don't!" But it was too late. A barrage of arrows came seemingly out of nowhere and made Soshlan fall with arrows through both of his now bleeding wings, an arrow through his right thigh, and an arrow through his left side. He was in pain and they all got a glance of an angry Angelus for the first time, "Foolish boy! Do you want to get yourself killed?" It almost seemed like Angelus wanted to slap the boy, but didn't.

Soshlan was breathing fast and wincing in pain when Angelus started to remove the arrows by pulling them out by the pointed staffs. Quickly, Angelus was able to remove all of the arrows from Soshlan's golden non-feathered wings and then he got to the boy's thigh. The arrow hadn't completely pierced through, but Angelus pushed it so that the pointy end would come out, gaining a scream of deep pain from the elven fairy that made the others flinch. After that, he went to the last arrow. He had saved it for last for a very simple reason. The arrow was the one that had pierced dangerously and Angelus frowned. "This arrow has pierced your left kidney," he told Soshlan. Harry clenched his teeth at the knowledge, Kroy lowered his gaze, and the others gasped. "Only very powerful healing magic can repair the damage after I remove the arrow, otherwise I can simply remove that kidney. It's already getting filled with blood and if I pull the arrow out..." Angelus didn't finish the sentence, knowing full well that Soshlan knew what would happen. "You're lucky it wasn't your heart or your liver, little one."

"I don't have the healing magic required," Soshlan said with a choke.

"I do," said Luna soothingly. "Just obtained it from the orbs provided by the Gorgon Queen." She approached Soshlan and nodded to Angelus for him to remove the arrow at the same time she knelt and invoked the curative magic. Soshlan screamed as Angelus pulled the arrow out making it go completely through the kidney, but soon he was relieved as the healing progressed. Luna finished and smiled at him. "Better?" Soshlan nodded, but he looked pale. Luna then healed the thigh and wings, but even after the healing Soshlan needed to recover.

"He won't be able to walk for a while," Angelus said as he lifted Soshlan. "They're here," he added, getting confused glances, but Harry immediately figured out what Angelus meant. There were shadows behind the mist and soon they were surrounded by soldiers from Azfarath.

"You won't escape this time," a dark mage hissed. "You will be taken to our Dark Lord."

All of a sudden, the mist moved towards them and trapped them. They all felt their bodies paralyzing amidst the foggy environment that encompassed them. Harry tried to block the mist, but it was impossible. It wasn't just a spell that had been aimed at them. How could you fight fog, especially if it was magical?

Harry could feel his power being subdued and through the corner of his eyes saw the forms of his friends and companions falling on their knees. Even Angelus seemed to be having a hard time making a stand against the mist and his knees were quivering, even more when he was dealing with the weight that was Soshlan on him.

Throughout their seemingly losing battle Harry noticed one of them still standing just as he fell on his knees. It was Kroy, and the half Draconian's eyes were glowing more than ever. He screamed as his clothes blended into his skin and it started to cover itself in glowing blue scales. He placed his hands on his head as if trying to control himself, but not accomplishing it. "Kroy!" Harry tried to exclaim, but his voice came out weak as his energy levels decreased. It seemed that the stress of being unable to move had taken its toll on Kroy and shortly his body was enlarging itself. Harry heard the dark mages reactions, for they were aghast by what they were seeing, but that wasn't all. A sudden attack came over the Dark Lord's minions. Not only Kroy was now soaring while spitting fire and ice at the evildoers, but there were also scales coming from somewhere outside the mist.

The paralyzing fog started to fade and Harry was able to appreciate the forms of the enemies melting in their own blood, a sight he had seen before in fights against fiends when it came to Kroy's style of fighting. Soon the enemy group was no more as the earth swallowed the blood puddles, but they became surrounded by the inhabitants of Xaphan that had detected strangers approaching their city. The inhabitants were almost human looking, but their skin was scaly and they were all bald, females and males alike. They weren't exactly what Harry would have called beautiful people physically, but they looked human enough in a peculiar and uncommon way. They were all dressed in earth colours. "Who are you?" he managed to ask, as he was able to stand.

The people looked strangely at Harry and then at the soaring shimmery blue dragon above them, but none responded to Harry's question. One of the people, a stern looking man, raised his right hand and from it sprouted brown scales forming a circle. The circle of scales floated towards the dragon and tamed it in a certain way. It kept floating in front of the dragon's eyes and the dragon calmed and started to descend, the whole time its eyes on the circle of scales. It landed as softly as it possibly could, but the land still trembled. Several of the people came and caressed the dragon and it started to shrink in size little by little until it became Kroy, only this time he was fully clothed.

One of the bald and scaly females smiled at Kroy and helped him stand. After that, the rest of the people kept studying Kroy and touched his slightly long and dark blonde mane. Though these people were bald and scaly, their tanned skin and glowing eyes resembled Kroy's, although he had normal skin and hair, discounting his ability to produce scales. The differences were astounding, but it was the truth behind these strange beings was dawning on Harry; they had to be pure Draconians.

"You are very close to our lands. Is there a purpose to this fact?" a female asked.

Harry looked at Angelus, but it was obvious the strange man wasn't going to speak on their behalf so he approached the female that was questioning them. "We need to go through your city in order to complete our mission. The map we possess portrays that it is the only path and currently, our final destination is Zanoa."

The female nodded and spoke again: "I understand. It's true that you have to go through our city if you want to get to Zanoa. You will also have to pass through Ryoll. We are aware of traveler needs, but we've been apprehensive of strangers lately, and over all, protecting our young. It seems that a new dark being is stealing children. So far, we haven't been affected, but as we detected the followers of that dark sorcerer so close to our land we thought that they had finally decided to attack us. Now we have confirmed that it was not after us that they were, but rather after you. Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" blurted Soshlan as Angelus placed him on the ground and he tried standing on his own two feet.

"Some of them are children," a Draconian male stated confirming what Soshlan insinuated with the question.

"Yes," responded the female with a smile. "But usually stranded children are captured by bandits, not pursued by the Dark Lord's army itself in all its glory."

Harry took a deep breath before speaking again, signaling towards Neville and Luna, "Me and my friends came from the other world. That's why they're after us. We are here to stop Nebureth."

"Very well," said the female with a courteous bow. "You may enter our city, but it is more because of your companion. We are curious about him and want to study him as we've never seen a half-blood before." She turned to Kroy then. "With which civilization you grew up? Certainly, it wasn't with our people..."

"I grew up with the Pegasi people, but as an outcast. We were able to stay in the village, but due to my father they preferred our home to be in the farthest corner of the city," Kroy replied looking uncomfortable. He had never seen other Draconians before, except for his father.

The female motioned for them to follow her and they did. Harry was hesitating because the Draconians wanted to study Kroy, but if they were to go through the city, it seemed that there wasn't much of a choice. He was also going to make sure that no harm would come to his companion in their investigations.

After quite a long walk, they finally entered the city and Harry could feel the stares of the people there, but that wasn't what startled him. What seemed to take him aback was a strong magic that he could perceive in the atmosphere and he wondered what it was.

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**Thanks to HitoshirenzuKage, Fk306 animelover, and bandgsecurtiyaw!**

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	21. Mission: Complicated

Thanks to my lovely editor, **Menecarkawan**.

Song: 'In The Sky' by Miz (From videogame Grandia III)

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**Ch. 21: Mission: Complicated**

Kroy seemed tense as they entered the Draconian city of Xaphan. Harry kept staring at his half Draconian companion wondering if Kroy was feeling like some sort of guinea pig due to the fact that Xaphan's inhabitants seemed so interested in him. Harry noticed something else about the Draconian people; they were very tall, probably between 6' 2" and 8'. Harry had suspected that Kroy's height came from his father's side and now Harry was sure he was right about that, although the Gorgon Queen was also quite intimidating when it came to height.

The female that had previously spoken to them outside the city's grounds introduced herself as Yollka. She then escorted Kroy to a building nearby while another female by the name of Kraspia made Harry and the rest of his companions follow her to another building.

Kraspia, a Draconian with glowing amber eyes, made the adventurers sit around a table and served them snacks. Harry stared at the strange food, but refrained from even asking what was being offered. Instead, he decided to ask Kraspia questions about what was going to happen with Kroy. "Miss Kraspia?" The scaley woman's face immediately turned towards Harry. "What are they going to do with him?"

"Oh! Do not worry about that! He'll be perfectly fine! Our fine medical staff will simply take blood samples and test your friend's strength and magic to see how much his mixed heritage affects his body. They want to see if the mixed blood causes the Draconian magic and strength to decrease or increase, or if it remains intact in a certain way. Nothing about what they'll perform on your friend will hurt him, I can assure you. Just wait a little while and your companion will be with you again. Now eat!" Kraspia smiled as she encouraged them to eat the food, but they all seemed to be hesitating. Having been with the Androktonians had left that effect among them and the young looking female noticed it. "It's not poisoned... We Draconians don't poison guests no matter how we are labeled as dark creatures..."

"It's not that!" Janryu exclaimed and he got Kraspia's attention. "I'm considered a dark creature too, you know. I'm a vampire. The problem with us is not actually that we have been poisoned, but drugged."

Harry covered his face feeling humiliated. He never thought Janryu or anyone for that matter would bring something like that up and to make things worse Kraspia's expression was priceless. "Drugged?" the Draconian girl asked alarmed. "By whom? It certainly wasn't a Draconian, right?"

"It wasn't," Harry said in a tired voice. "I think we've made Miss Kraspia uncomfortable enough." With that, Harry started to eat and noticed that the small spheres of food tasted like potatoes, but with a meaty filling. They were quite enjoyable. "This is good!"

Kraspia smiled as the rest imitated Harry in eating. "You can also taste the wine! It's very fine wine, I say!"

"I would prefer water," Harry said sincerely, still having bad memories about his wine experience with the Androktonians too.

"Sure! I guess not all people risk getting a bit drunk!" She quickly fetched a pitcher, started to serve water in cups and placed them next to the wine filled goblets.

The magical feeling Harry kept getting was beginning to eat him from the inside and soon he gained the courage to ask: "Do you have some sort of magical source in this city?"

"Magical source?" the young woman asked confused.

"Yes. Ever since I entered this city I've been feeling very strong magical vibes."

Angelus stared at Harry as if studying him and then he spoke: "Here in this city is the cylinder of Hyalzyan. It's a powerful relic that has been guarded by the Draconian civilization for centuries. No tainted being can touch the relic, as it possesses much of Larakain's power soul. It's like a fragment of Larakain's heart in a symbolical way."

"What happens if such a relic were to fall into Nebureth's hands?" Soshlan asked nervously.

"He can't touch it!" Kraspia replied. "Filthy hands cannot be laid on the cylinder. If a tainted soul were to touch it he would immediately be consumed." She stared at Angelus. "How do you know so much about the cylinder?"

"I know about many things," Angelus answered monotonously, but Kraspia kept glancing at him suspiciously.

"Are there any other relics like the one here?" asked Neville before actually tasting the wine. "This is good wine!" he exclaimed.

Dianeia was the one to answer the question: "There are three more, Neville. As a matter of fact, the pyramid of Hyalzyan is hidden in my village. Hyalzyan is Larakain's previous name from long ago. There is also a cube of Hyalzyan and a sphere. They are never to be united or Larakain would be destroyed, but no corrupted being would ever try that due to the fact that he would die the moment he touches just one of the relics. Nebureth is not stupid."

Luna surprised everyone when she spoke: "People always say that children are innocent. What if Nebureth is trying to fill himself with the innocence of children as he absorbs their energy to make himself more powerful, and through that fake innocence, get his hands on the relics? I still don't understand what is the real purpose behind the dark lord wanting to be so powerful. Is it not to gain control of all of Larakain? That is usually a dark lord's final goal, to rule the world. Just kidnapping children won't give him that. We can try to sum the children, the magic of some creatures, and the relics."

"But that can't be!" Nemaisse retorted from beside Luna. "Even if the dark lord tried to get his hands on the relics they can't be joined! What would he gain from destroying the world he wants to rule?"

"Nothing." All eyes fell on Angelus. "He would gain nothing from destroying Larakain. That is not what he will attempt to do. He certainly doesn't plan to join the relics. His plan is to use them separately to join Larakain with the other world because their power serves as a key to completely sever the barrier that separates both worlds."

"WHAT?" Neville, Luna, and Harry reacted at the same time.

Neville looked frightened. "Join Earth and Larakain? Is that even possible?"

Harry suddenly remembered something Angelus had told him before: _The source that will link both worlds approaches. We have to avoid chaos from spreading if both worlds collide."_ Harry looked at Angelus: "You told me something about a source. Did you mean those relics? What will happen if both worlds are joined?"

"Then chaos will be inevitable. The worlds can't be joined under any circumstances. There are links between both worlds and the dark lord pretends to use those links and the relics to join both worlds and rule them, but we cannot allow that to happen." Angelus' gaze had hardened. "Instead of being joined the worlds would collide and be destroyed, but the dark lord ignores that."

"Great!" Janryu exclaimed. "And here I thought we only had to rescue children from that guy! Now it turns out he is a conqueror with a strong thirst for power and craving more lands to rule over?"

Harry seemed speechless, but spoke to Angelus: "How are we to stop that? The mission just seems to be getting more and more complicated!"

"You will have to avoid chaos at all costs. You cannot let both worlds succumb and crumble. That is your mission," Angelus said burning his golden gaze onto Harry's orbs.

Neville seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown and Luna tenderly started to rub his back and even placed a kiss on his right cheek. "Everything will be alright," she whispered in his ear, but Neville had a very bad feeling that not everything would be fine. He, just like Harry, felt that the mission kept getting more complicated and he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle the stress of the situation.

"What happens if a pure soul touches the relic?" Neville asked with a slight tremor in his voice.

Kraspia seemed upset by the question, but quickly replied: "Nothing of course! But most people fear it! Y-You don't plan to touch it, do you?" The Draconian girl started to fumble with the tray she was holding in her hands in a nervous gesture. "Y-You can die if you're not essentially good at heart!" she stammered.

Angelus stood up from his chair all of a sudden and all eyes fell on him once again. He studied all their faces and lastly his gaze fell on Harry. "Do you remember when I told you that there were things we had to do other than looking for the summons?" Harry nodded with a confused expression. "This is one of those missions. Each of you will touch the relic to prove themselves. If there is a traitor among us, that person will perish. It's something I've been meaning to do ever since what happened with Al one hundred and forty years ago."

"What if it kills dark creatures?" Janryu asked with wide eyes.

"It's not like that!" Kraspia reacted with mild anger. "That relic is being protected by spiritual energy from us Draconians and we have never been considered creatures of the light!"

"We leave," Angelus said. "After making sure each of us touches the relic and as soon as we finish our business here in Xaphan, I will leave you."

"But I thought you were going to be with us in Ryoll, gramps!" Janryu reacted.

"No. I never said that. I mentioned that I would leave you before you reached Zanoa, and so I shall, but you are right. I won't be with you in Ryoll. Now, go hunt."

Janryu got up from his chair to leave the group. He was going to hunt outside the city's outskirts for a while. Kroy still hadn't returned and they wouldn't be able to be tested until their half Pegasi companion had joined them.

Harry didn't like the idea of everyone touching the Draconian protected relic, but at the same time recognized it was a necessary _evil_ and it would dissipate any doubts he could have been brewing in the depths of his heart. He didn't want to doubt any of his companions and so far he trusted them all, especially Luna, Neville, and Dianeia.

After one hour of waiting, Kroy was finally brought to the building's living room where they were. Janryu also returned after having hunted and Kraspia, still unsure of what they had requested, started to escort them to the place where the cylinder of Hyalzyan was. Walking through the city, Harry and his companions kept glancing at the Draconians and Janryu blurted: "Man, these people are ugly!"

Kraspia, who heard the vampire clearly, turned to him looking mildly annoyed and said: "The one who is ugly is you! Look at those slanted eyes with no glow, and that animal mane of black hair, skin that is not tanned enough, plus no scales on that body of yours! Definitely ugly, I'd say! At least your half-blood friend has glowing eyes and that is definitely a nice touch to him. Still, he's a bit ugly too." Kroy half smiled at the comment.

The others laughed at how Kraspia snapped at Janryu without looking really angry at him. It was obvious that beauty standards definitely varied from culture to culture. Harry silently agreed with Janryu, but he would have never voiced it like the vampire had done. In his tastes, the Draconian people weren't physically attractive and he wondered how Kroy's mother had fallen for a Draconian man. It was true love was blind, but Harry sometimes thought that at least the person in love must consider the other one beautiful. He even wondered if he would have fallen for Dianeia if she had been a Draconian, but in a certain sense, she was strange too. Not every man would have considered her shimmery unicorn white hair beautiful, for example. He was sure Ron would have never fallen for Dia.

"There!" Kraspia pointed to an aqueous wall that reminded Harry of the protective barrier that hid the kingdom of Franya. They followed her through the wall, a sensation of sudden cold wetness tingling in their bodies as they went through. The feeling reminded Harry of being accidentally touched or passed through by ghosts in Hogwarts, but he ignored the memories as he stared at the powerful cylinder. The magic it radiated was intimidating and Harry felt sudden fear and didn't want to get closer to it. He noticed that his friends had to be experiencing the same frightening sensation as him because they had stopped walking toward the cylinder. A seemingly glass spiral staircase led to the relic. Kraspia had also stopped walking and hesitated in front of the staircase before turning to them: "I will not be climbing this staircase. I've only escorted you here, but you are the ones that wish to touch it, not me."

"Do you have any recollections of people that have tried to touch it in the past?" asked Harry with his eyes still fixed on the relic.

"Of course! Look around you!"

Harry and his companions scanned the room. There were many white pedestals with silvery recollection pyramids like the one Harry, Neville, and Luna had seen of Al and like the one in which they had recorded their introductions when they met the elder that spoke to them about part of their mission, placed on the pedestals. "Can we see them?"

Kraspia nodded at Harry and he went for a random pyramid. He pressed the button to play it and saw a recording of two Draconians placing the relic on its place above the stairs and the relic not harming them at all. After that he saw other recordings of Draconians revising the relic and testing its magic, and they were also unscathed after dealing with the powerful cylinder. Harry started to go pyramid by pyramid and he was feeling more and more relieved as so far he hadn't seen the relic killing anyone until he reached a pyramid that seemed to alarm Kraspia for she suddenly exclaimed: "That one is new! I've been here many times and that pyramid is new! When a pyramid is full of recordings, this magical room automatically creates another pedestal and another pyramid to record anyone that approaches the relic. This pyramid wasn't here last month when it was my turn to clean this place."

Harry and Neville looked at each other and their gazes hardened. Neville nodded at Harry and Harry looked at Angelus and Angelus nodded too. Harry pressed the button of the new pyramid and they gasped when they saw one of Nebureth's dark mages approaching the relic along with some shadow men. The dark mage touched the relic and screamed. His black clothing and cape started to burn in a white fire and his skin started to peel itself completely, every layer. Harry felt Dianeia hold on to him as they watched the mage's veins appear after the muscles had been skinned, and then also being peeled from the body. By that point, Luna hid her face on Neville's chest and Neville closed his eyes. The image now showed a quivering skeleton still touching the relic and the skeleton exploded into dust that vanished. The shadow men tried to get the relic just like the dark mage had tried in vain and they also perished, only leaving behind the echoes of their howls from excruciating pain.

Angelus looked at the terrified faces and said: "Now each of us will be tested like that mage was. The cylinder of Hyalzyan will be our judge."

"You're kidding, right old man?" Janryu retorted.

"I'll go first," said Kroy surprising them. He calmly went up the transparent spiral staircase and as he reached the relic, he pulled back his current light blue tunic's long sleeve and carefully placed his hand on the cylinder. The cylinder gave a welcoming glow and its light caressed the half Draconian's palm in acceptance. Kroy took his hand back and looked at his companions with a faint smile. He came down looking a little somber, or so Harry thought. Kroy had looked strange ever since he had come back from the tests they had performed on him.

After Kroy, it was Dianeia's turn and she passed although looking blanched the whole time. One by one, they all went: Harry, Angelus, Luna, Janryu, Soshlan, Nemaisse, and lastly Neville. Neville looked timid and he decided to be last because he had a very bad feeling gnawing inside him. Breathing and steadying himself with every step he took, Neville finally reached the top of the stairs. He hadn't touched the cylinder of Hyalzyan yet when it started to glow with a blinding white light. Neville didn't want to touch it and he tried to move backwards and tripped. He was about to fall down the stairs when the light from the cylinder produced giant hands that held him and made him touch the relic. Neville screamed as some of the light invaded his body. He was lifted into the air and passed out, but the magic didn't let him fall.

"What is happening to him?" Soshlan asked hysterically.

Harry quirked an eyebrow and glared at Angelus. He knew that Neville wasn't bad or a traitor and that what was happening to his fellow Gryffindor was something different. The mysterious man's eyes shone triumphantly and he said aloud: "His mutation has finally been chosen."

Kraspia left the secret room running. Not only did she have to alert the elders about a new pyramid that was evidence of what the dark lord was planning, but she also had to alert the elders of what had happened with one of the children of the other world. Shortly, she was returning with Yollka and five other Draconians.

"What has happened?" Yollka asked and gasped when she saw a passed out Neville being held in midair and looking wet. "But this can't be! The cylinder has never linked itself to anyone before!"

From the cylinder of Hyalzyan came two shiny silver guns that were placed in the sheaths Neville had attached to his belt, vanishing the bronze ones. After that, little by little the light caused Neville's descent and Angelus grabbed the soaked boy in his arms. Neville's eyes fluttered open and he started to shiver. "Something... Inside me..." he managed to say hoarsely

"It's alright. It's just your mutation. You will also evolve after this," Angelus told him in a paternal tone.

"Scared," Neville added, still shivering.

"A very normal feeling, but it will pass," Angelus replied and then lowered Neville to the floor and produced a mantle from one of his sacks to cover Neville with. After having Neville tucked in the mantle, he lifted the boy again. "We leave this city."

"But wait!" Yollka exclaimed. "You will have to let us thoroughly inspect that child! We have to know what happened!"

Kroy intervened. "First you should increase your security. A dark mage has already been here, aunt Yollka."

The others including Kraspia stared at Kroy for the way he had addressed the leader like female Draconian that possessed glowing green eyes. Yollka nodded and made a gesture indicating they could leave. In minutes they were leaving the city and frowned as Kroy and Dianeia blurted at the same time with frustrated voices: "Evolution Portal."

XxXxX

Al awoke in brown bedding that smelled like leather. He looked around and noticed that he was wearing only long brown trousers in a style that reminded him of the old natives of North America. He was shirtless and noticed a strange pendant he didn't have before. It had a bulb with sparkling blue and green stones inside it. He rubbed his eyes and as he got up, he found a mirror and stared at his image. A fourteen-year-old boy stared back and that auburn haired boy had a few freckles on his nose that people barely noticed. He touched the mirror looking at his reflection enthralled. He still couldn't believe he looked so young again. It was funny and at the same time incredibly frustrating. Perhaps an older form, like eighteen, would have suited him better. He chuckled to himself, but then went alert and started to try locating his familiar. "Fawkes?" he asked to the empty room and the phoenix appeared in front of him, putting him at ease. "Where were you, little rascal?" Fawkes chirped happily and pecked Al's fingers. "Bloody bird..." he said lovingly, but was suddenly interrupted.

"I see that you have awoken, young one. Do not be frightened. We rescued you from Nebureth's men. You've slept for two days. Do you recall anything?"

Al studied the elven woman and nodded. "I remember being in the middle of a losing fight. I was too weak."

"You could have died," the woman stated. "My name is Ureilhia. I'm quite interested in knowing your name, little one."

"A..." Al stopped himself. Saying his real name could be troublesome so he found himself saying one of his middle names. "Wulfric."

Ureilhia lifted an eyebrow suspiciously: "Wulfric? Are you sure? What was the 'Ah' for? Awulfric?"

"Sure! Awulfric!" Al exclaimed and even winked an eye to the elvish woman.

"How old are you?" Ureilhia asked curiously.

"Quite old I'd say," he started automatically. "Soon I'll be one hundred and fifty-fi..." he gasped stopping himself and covering his mouth. Great. He was acting very stupid. It seemed the body regression had also regressed his brain. What the hell was he thinking? "I... I was joking. I'm fourteen-years-old, but that should be obvious, right?" Al's bright blue eyes were full of hope and twinkled as he waited for Ureilhia's reply.

"Why are you in that form, Al?" Ureilhia asked full of concern, but putting emphasis on the short name.

'Busted', Al thought to himself. He had a lot of explaining to do.

XxXxX

Ryoll was incredibly close to Xaphan so the walk wasn't very long; only about 1.5 km. Angelus was carrying a worn out Neville. The boy hadn't just suffered his still enigmatic mutation, but had also suffered the nightmare that was the evolution portal. Right before entering Ryoll's grounds Angelus gave Neville to Kroy and spoke to them all: "I will join you later on. Whatever you do, always choose wisely. Take care."

"And he leaves just like that," Janryu stated. "He sure is a strange one!"

Luna kept looking at Neville knowing full well that she would be next to evolve. She had an incredible desire to learn what her mutation would be, but at the same time, she was apprehensive and nervous. She was curious about what Neville's mutation was, though.

Right after they entered the city of Ryoll, a middle aged looking woman with long flowing soda pink hair in a handkerchief and an eye-patch over her left eye ran towards them. Her good eye was gray and with a nasal voice she said: "My, my! The Draconians actually let travelers pass? The Crumple-Horned Snorkacks will fly! Welcome to Ryoll, the number one city in technology! Hope you weren't fooled by the city of Pakkon!" The woman laughed in a high-pitched annoying way and Harry and Dianeia looked at each other. "My name is Aklashya. I am the best inventor in this city. You can admire most of my inventions by looking around!"

Harry agreed that the city looked more advanced than Pakkon, and also had the robot like dolls, but much more. There were flying means of transportation that the people used as normally as people used cars on Earth. The flying vehicles looked like watermelon slices and made a very unusual sight in his opinion. Many artifacts actually looked like fruits.

There were terrain wheeled vehicles that moved by themselves without the need of horses, constantly transporting things around the city, especially to small shops. Harry could see machines producing sweets and other foods in diverse kiosks.

"You seem impressed!" Harry jumped as the woman's face appeared in front of his. "But you haven't seen my best invention ever, handsome! Come on!" she motioned for them to follow her.

Kroy looked at Harry and Harry shrugged. "Guess there won't be any harm in checking out her latest invention..."

Soshlan and Nemaisse laughed nervously while Dianeia pouted in concentration and Luna seemed hypnotized by all the inventions running around the city.

The adventurers followed Aklashya and soon reached a huge terrain where she pointed to what looked like a giant pod connected to what seemed like a blimp. "What in the devil is that?" Janryu asked.

"Wicked!" Neville exclaimed weakly from his place in Kroy's arms.

"And it does fly, I can assure y'all! Do you want to test it? Where do you want to go?" Aklashya asked full of excitement.

"We just wish to go through Ryoll to get to Zanoa," Harry answered truthfully.

"Then my Flying Cutesy Kokoshyon can be put to great use! You do know you have to cross a huge river to get to Zanoa and some villain broke the bridge, right?"

"I... I didn't know that," Harry replied.

"I'll take you then! Hop aboard, mates! Aklashya will take you to Zanoa in no time!"

"Aren't you supposed to stay here?" Soshlan asked.

"Why?"

"Are you the leader of this city?" asked Harry.

"Leader?" The woman laughed annoyingly again. "I'm just an inventor and I constantly leave the city to travel around the world! Now, let's fly!"

Without even knowing why he felt it was the correct thing to do, Harry found himself boarding the giant green painted metallic pod along with his companions. Aklashya placed herself in front of many buttons, gearshifts, and rudder bars and after pressing many buttons; the system ignited producing a strong fire that activated the blimp like thing above the pod. In only two minutes the Kokoshyon was flying.

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**Thanks to: ****HitoshirenzuKage - aww... that comment made me blush, guess many people don't like to review; ****Farfumsane, and ****bandgsecurtiyaw for reviewing!**


	22. The Sleeping Man

Beta-Read by Weasley8799 after Menecarkawan's retirement due to problems with her wrists.

Song: 'Over Drive' by M.O.V.E

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**Ch. 22: The Sleeping Man**

"So? How do you like my Kokoshyon? Am I not the finest inventor you've ever met? Isn't this a masterpiece?" Aklashya started to laugh and Harry stared at her perplexed. He then stared at his comrades and they looked as astonished as he did.

Kroy approached Aklashya, surprising the rest with his gesture. "Does this flying invention have rooms? This young man really needs a bed. He evolved just recently."

"Of course it has rooms! It has everything you need!" Aklashya then glanced at Neville and frowned. "Isn't he a bit young to be evolving?"

"He is, but in his case it was expected for he is from the other world," Kroy responded in a very confident tone.

"From the other..." Aklashya looked at each of the young faces surrounding her. "I thought you were regular travelers. Oh my!"

"Is something the matter?" Dianeia asked worried.

"Only that if you're not regular travelers you might get me in trouble! Oh dear..."

"The room?" Kroy reminded her.

"Sure, sure! Follow me!"

Kroy followed a suddenly unsure Aklashya with Neville in his arms while Harry looked at the rest of his companions and said: "I do not want to trouble her so as soon as we're in Zanoa, which I hope will be in very little time. We'll tell her to return to Ryoll. We really don't need a flying vehicle plus it might draw too much attention."

"Not as much attention as us flying..." said Janryu absentmindedly, playing with a dagger and moving it gracefully through his fingers. "Although it's true I've never seen a flying contraption such as this one before." His pale violet eyes locked with Harry's and the young vampire gave Harry a half smile.

"Yes, but there are many crazy inventors out there. I'm sure Nebureth's men will just assume it's another invention rather than believe we're inside such an invention," Soshlan stated, his eyes wandering around the airship's button filled walls.

"It still stands out..." Nemaisse blurted while also gazing around. She looked dumbfounded with the many buttons around her.

"I think it would be great if we could keep traveling in such a fantastic artifact." Luna's protuberant eyes reflected excitement as she spoke. "You have to admit it is one of the great things we have encountered, as if by fate. Don't you think so, Harry?"

Harry was thoughtful. He still wasn't sure about traveling in that fashion although in a sense it cloaked them. Like Soshlan, he didn't expect the Dark Lord's minions to be able to decipher if they were in some sort of airship. Harry was suddenly woken from his thoughts by Dianeia asking: "Who is driving this anyway?"

A voice immediately answered and a person they hadn't seen before turned around in a rolling chair, making them all go aghast. "I am driving!"

"But you're a child!" Dianeia replied horrified as she stared at a pink haired boy that couldn't be even ten years old. The boy wore a brown newsboy style cap and was dressed in brown shorts and white long sleeved tunic shirt.

"Name's Kayshi. Pleased to meet ya!" The boy raised his right hand saluting them.

"But you're so young!" Dianeia exclaimed, eyes opened wide.

"And you haven't been captured?" Soshlan added, perplexed.

"Ryoll hasn't been affected by the strange Dark Lord because it's difficult to reach. The only way to get to Ryoll by foot is through Xaphan and even if the Dark Lord's men came flying, it would be ridiculous for them to attempt taking the children by air," Aklashya, who had just returned, answered Soshlan's question. "I see you've met my son! Isn't he a darling?" The boy smiled as his mother removed the cap and messed his hair.

"But they have those vacuum creatures like the one we fought! They don't need to take the children by air!" Janryu reminded them with a grim expression.

Kroy also joined them then and replied, "It still wouldn't be easy for them to come to Ryoll. It's the mages who possess those vacuums. They won't bother to come in flying creatures to take the children unless they're really desperate. They also seem to be avoiding the Draconians for if the Draconians see them coming by air they will attack. I learned from aunt Yollka that the Dark Lord's men seem to have avoided two civilizations so far: the Draconians along with the cities close to them and the Phoenix society."

"Phoenix society?" asked Harry unsure that he heard Kroy correctly.

"Yes," answered Soshlan. "They're a very strange civilization with a reputation of being very unfriendly."

The airship suddenly trembled and everyone lost their balance. "What's happening?" asked Nemaisse looking frightened.

A terrible growling sound and then a howl filled the air. Harry tried to regain his balance, but fell backwards almost crushing a complaining Dianeia under him. The sound came again and once more the flying pod shook.

"A wild dragon is attacking us!" yelled Kayshi. "Mum! It wants to attack the blimp!"

From where she was on the floor Aklashya ordered, "Evade its attacks as best as you can!"

"Roger!" said the young pilot as he concentrated in dodging the wild dragon's advances.

"Wild dragon?" asked Luna, her eyes on Kroy. "Does he mean a dragon that is not a Draconian?"

"That is exactly what he means," replied Kroy with clenched teeth. "In this world, we have both Draconians and dragons. There also existed wild unicorns and pegasi too, but they are now extinct."

Kroy sent a glance in Dianeia's direction and she nodded in acknowledgment at the same time she came out from under Harry, dusting herself as a reaction as if the floor had been dirty, even when no dust came from her attempts with her hands.

The wild dragon roared outside and Kayshi gasped as he saw the dragon through his visuals of the outside atmosphere. Harry also seemed surprised for he had expected a dragon like the ice type they had defeated once. Instead it was an angry red coloured dragon with a body so long it resembled a serpent. It had no wings, but was still able to fly. On its head it had two devilish horns and its eyes were extremely big and bulging. The dragon's nostrils approached the visor and Nemaisse, Dianeia, Soshlan, Kayshi, and Janryu screamed. Kayshi nervously maneuvered the rudder in front of him by moving the ship abruptly and making the passengers crash everywhere.

"We'll have to go outside and fight it," Harry stated rubbing his right shoulder after it had just hit a wall.

"Are you mad?" asked Janryu rubbing a possible concussion on the left side of his head.

"Why don't we summon?" Luna suggested with a smile. She seemed to be enjoying the odd excitement of the approaching fight.

Harry nodded before raising his right hand. A giant snake came out of his palm and glided neatly going through the airship's ceiling as if it were a ghost. "Look!" exclaimed Kayshi and he opened many window visors. Ouraion was fighting the dragon, but it seemed that his petrifying gaze didn't work against the angry creature. The silver basilisk opened his mouth and inserted venomous fangs on the red dragon's neck right after dodging its breathed fire. The dragon howled in pain as the basilisk, with his fangs still on the dragon's neck, laced himself in a spiral around the dragon's body, crushing its bones. Ouraion then opened his mouth again and trapped the dragon's head in it before starting to slowly swallow the dragon whole. Right after finishing his meal in over fifteen minutes, Ouraion returned to his master looking gleeful.

XxXxX

Hermione didn't know whether to be furious or anguished. She had just spoken to Professor McGonagall and there was still no sign of Dumbledore. Why had the headmaster vanished? And how? It was utterly ridiculous and Hermione couldn't help but feel uncertainty that almost made her sick to the stomach. She went to the girls' bathroom and started to wash her face as if the water would rid her of her nervousness. Perhaps after feeling better she would be able to work on some essays that weren't due until next week. She really had to let homework absorb her or she would go insane.

A strange sound brought Hermione back to reality and she asked aloud: "What was that?" With trembling hands, she turned around and readied her wand. She suddenly felt vines crawling through her body and screamed. Her armed arm became entangled tightly, making her lose the hold on her wand. Frantically, she looked around and was able to notice where the vines had come from. They had come from a mirror in a corner and Hermione thrashed upon the vines failing miserably as the vines started to drag her body. Soon she was cocooned in those vines and barely able to writhe and squirm as her whole body was swallowed by the bathroom's mirror.

Professor Sprout had heard screams coming from the bathroom, but when she entered everything looked normal. She checked every division, shook her head, and was about to leave when she saw a wand on the floor. She picked it up, looked around again, and left.

Ron was throwing pebbles to the lake, watching the ripples caused upon contact between the tiny rocks and the water. Hermione had told him she was going to the nearest bathroom, but hadn't returned yet. Ron sighed looking at the other students that were outside that Saturday and checked his watch with a frown. He rolled his eyes wondering what girls did in a bathroom that took so long, but was startled as something grabbed his leg. At first Ron thought it had been the giant squid that inhabited the lake, but then noticed that it was a vine coming from the lake. He suddenly heard an eerie voice whisper: "You are mine." Ron quickly looked for his wand and in his state of fear took longer than he should. More vines had come out of the water and had grabbed his other leg while crawling to his waist. Ron desperately started to cast _Diffindo_, cutting vines over and over, but the vines kept coming or simply sprouting from the recently cut ones. His body was now being dragged little by little into the water and with his unarmed hand he clawed his fingernails into the earth. He yelped as he felt the hurt in his fingers and blood forming under his nails. Another vine started to entangle itself around his neck and he frantically screamed names: "Seamus! Dean! Lavender!"

The others heard him and came running. Even some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joined the Gryffindors that had heard Ron's screams while the Slytherins, led by Draco Malfoy, laughed hysterically. "Is that the giant squid?" asked Ernie McMillan.

Draco pointed at the scene in his hysterical laughter and yelled: "Look everyone! Even the giant squid has decided that the Weasleys are a plague in the Wizarding world!"

Ginny glared at the laughing and cheering Slytherins and started to help the rest of the students in trying to rid Ron of the vines that kept shuffling his body towards the lake.

"This is not the giant squid!" Dean exclaimed, his dark skin paling.

No matter how many spells the students used against the vines they kept multiplying and Ron was being suffocated in them. The vines had already covered his whole body and his legs were already under the water.

"Someone get a teacher!" Susan Bones screamed horrorstricken.

At that Justin Finch-Fletchley and Colin Creevey started to run toward Hagrid's cottage as he was probably the teacher nearest to the situation. It was too late, though. While Colin and Justin were getting Hagrid the students used their efforts in a final attempt to rescue Ron by pulling the boy's trapped body, but to no avail. More vines came and pushed the students violently away from their prey and submerged Ron.

Hours later, Headmistress McGonagall had Hermione Granger's wand on the desk in front of her. She buried her face in her hands not knowing what to do. Miss Granger was missing and many students had been witnesses to Ronald Weasley being swallowed by the lake. Just like the Dursleys, Mrs. Longbottom, and Mr. Lovegood; the Weasleys and the Grangers were already aware of their children being missing. Minerva had no idea why students kept disappearing from the school and she spoke in a broken voice to the air: "Albus, why is this happening? Where have you gone to?" Knowing that it was foolish to dwell on things without doing anything, Minerva wrote to the Ministry of Magic asking for a wizard or witch who are able to speak mermish. She needed someone to speak with the merpeople to see if they knew anything about the young Weasley at least.

XxXxX

Ureilhia decided not to reveal much about Al although she suspected most of the elves already knew the truth about the boy. She was amazed about what Nebureth had done to get Al in child form and wondered if they would be able to protect the young looking ancient. Their children had been taken a long time ago and even though the visits of the shadow men had diminished and were less frequent Ureilhia knew Al wasn't entirely safe with them. They had tried fighting the shadow men in vain and were still trying to figure how to destroy them. Soldiers were easy to fight and kill, but the shadow men weren't.

"I have to find him," Al said all of a sudden.

"Find who?"

"Harry."

"Who is Harry?"

"One of my... students. He is in this world just like I was 140 years ago along with two other students. I need to find them, but it might be too late."

"You cannot change their destinies. I'm sure everything will be all right."

Al shook his head as he took a sip from a cup filled with a hot liquid Ureilhia had given him. "If they wake the sleeping man..." Al lowered his eyes. "They'll be as good as dead. I was warned not to wake him and they have no one to tell them the same. He won't tell them anything."

"Who is he?" Ureilhia asked with interest.

"Tenshi. I'm sure he is alive for some reason that I can only suspect."

"Who is this sleeping man? I think I've heard a legend."

"It's no legend. He exists in the palace where the fragment is. They have to take the fragment and not wake the sleeping man. I remember Thiagus knew all about it and told me not to wake him so I never did."

"Then you don't know what will happen if that man is awoken. Perhaps it is their destiny to vanquish that being."

Al's big blue eyes lifted and gazed at the blonde elven woman's dark green eyes. "I was told he was impossible to defeat, but maybe... Maybe Harry can."

XxXxX

"And we're in Zanoa!" exclaimed Kayshi joyfully.

Harry sighed in relief as they landed. He abandoned the pod with his friends after waking a still feverish Neville to join them and looked back at Aklashya. "Where will you be heading from here?" she asked.

"I'll have to check the map," Harry replied looking almost uncomfortable.

"Well, if you need a lift come back! I'll be glad to help the ones from the other world. I'll be around the city for a while." She winked at him.

Harry waved at Aklashya and penetrated the city, automatically starting his internal scan. It beeped as it detected where the fragment was, his eyes projecting the image in front of his face. Completely sure of himself he quickened his pace with the others following closely behind until they were in front of a castle's gates and the soldiers standing in front of the castle didn't even glance at them as they entered. For what Harry had seen they had to go through the castle because the fragment was at the other side inside a strange building that seemed as big as the castle they had currently invaded. A very old king was seated on a throne and stared at them. "What do you want?"

"We simply want to know if this castle has some sort of back door. We need to reach the building that is behind this castle." As soon as Harry finished saying those words he felt many stares on him from servants and soldiers alike.

The king raised an eyebrow and asked: "You need to reach the enchanted palace behind this castle?"

"Yes. Is there a problem with that, your majesty?"

"No. Not really. It's just that no one has asked to visit the enchanted palace in over a hundred years." Many people laughed in agreement with the old king, but Harry ignored it.

"I will let you pass under one condition then," said the king gleefully.

Harry looked confused and asked: "What condition?"

"I will let you go to the enchanted palace in exchange for the girl with the beautiful eyes. I want to make her one of my wives. You have far too many companions anyway."

"I... I don't know which girl you're talking about," Harry replied honestly, but with a feeling of dread all over him as he wondered if that king wanted Dianeia.

"That one! The only one with beautiful eyes!" The king pointed at Luna, who simply stared at the ceiling dreamily, unaware of what was happening.

"You cannot have her!" exclaimed Neville, who was leaning on Janryu for support. He had gone through the evolution process that hadn't changed his appearance much, but he still looked a little more mature than before. He also seemed to have more muscle in his body that diminished what had used to be a chubby physique. At that moment he looked angered which was something most unusual for the boy.

"Why not?" the king asked.

Harry took a deep breath as he was reminded of the Androktonians wanting Neville and he said: "My companions are not for sale."

"What a pity!" replied the king. "All right, you may pass anyway." He added in a bored tone.

Harry was relieved when he saw it wasn't too difficult to deal with the king. For a minute he thought they would end up fighting in Zanoa. They were led to a back door that was full of dust and cobwebs because it hadn't been opened in years. It made a creaky noise when its lever was pulled, but it flung open for them. Harry walked ahead, followed by his friends and after twenty meters they were in front of a golden palace. It was strange to see the palace so neat and shimmery when no one had visited it in many years. It looked like someone kept it very clean and Harry wondered if it was the magic of the place. The adventurers got into the palace and immediately looked for the fragment. They went through several sets of spiral staircases with rails made out of gold and steps of the purest white marble until they reached the room they needed. Everything in that palace seemed made out of precious stones, marble, and gold. The white marble walls had many gems encrusted and it reminded Harry of the stone key. He even saw Luna look for it in her sack and compare it with one of the walls as if thinking the same thing as him.

In the chamber there was a golden coffin and Harry approached it. The coffin's lid was made out of glass and inside lied a very young and handsome sleeping man in green robes and with long dark green straight hair that fell neatly on a thin pillow and down to the man's mid arms. Harry's eyes locked with Dianeia's and both wondered about the sleeping man. "Maybe he is the master of this castle?" Dia asked.

"Don't know..." Harry answered.

"Could he be a vampire?" asked Neville curiously.

"Why does he have to be a vampire?" Janryu reacted in shock and looking annoyed.

"Because he is sleeping in a coffin," stated Luna as if it were obvious and raising her right index finger, moving it in front of Janryu's face.

"Vampires don't sleep in coffins!" retorted an annoyed Janryu, trying to grab the annoying finger that was being waved in front of him, but with Luna moving it fast and hiding it with a small laugh. "At least I would never sleep in one..." Janryu added, giving up on the small target he had in front of him moments before.

"Stop it," Harry ordered. "Let's just look for the--" He heard something above him and looked upwards to see the fragment there, floating several feet above the coffin. Instinctively, he raised his left hand and the fragment descended. It delicately touched his hand and then floated to his head and entered it. Harry gasped as a tingling sensation embraced him, but he shook the feelings off.

"Look!" Dianeia exclaimed pointing at Harry's head. Two onyx gems formed on his head, but vanished. "But why?" she asked surprised.

"Because it's the meteor summon," Harry muttered, not looking cheerful at all as he was reminded of the aberration that was his magical form. "Her name is Baetylus."

Harry had no intention of waking the sleeping man so he started his way back to the door, but Soshlan touched the glass out of curiosity and it vanished under his touch making him stifle a scream. Harry looked at the elven fairy and Soshlan's canary yellow eyes showed terror as the boy blurted: "It vanished... The glass... Gone..." With trembling lips, Soshlan looked back at the coffin and covered his mouth as he saw a man in a sitting position.

"I've slumbered for a very long time. Who has awoken me?" the man drawled in a sickeningly effeminate voice. Soshlan stared at the man walking backwards with his hands still over his mouth. "So it was you?" the man asked with a very kind smile. "I thank you." He then turned his eyes to Harry, then to Neville who was now using Kroy as a supporting column, and then at Luna. "My name is Damnian. It is a honour to meet you, children from the other world." The effeminate man delicately removed himself from the coffin and yawned. "Now I will join you in your quest. I might be of great help."

* * *

Thanks to HitoshirenzuKage and bandgsecurtiyaw for reviewing. 


	23. Brothers

Beta-Read by Weasley 8799

Song: 'Noizy Tribe' by m.o.v.e

* * *

**Ch. 23: Brothers**

Harry stared at the man in front of him, wondering how the man knew that he, Neville, and Luna weren't from Larakain. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Luna activating the scanner attached to her right wrist's cuff. He clearly listened to its beeping sound, but when his eyes connected with Luna's protuberant gaze she shook her head. The strange man Soshlan had awoken couldn't be read as fiend by Luna's scanner. Neville hardened his gaze and used his own scanner too, Kroy supporting him the whole time, but like Luna he got no readings on the man that had introduced himself as Damnian either. Was this strange man friend or foe? Harry had no idea, but he felt his skin prickling all over his body and the man's satinated voice made him feel even more strained.

"Why do you look at me like that?" Damnian studied Harry with golden eyes that reminded of Angelus. He started to walk softly towards Harry, making Harry and his companions walk backwards even more. "Are you frightened of me? I don't consider myself... intimidating."

More shivers traveled down Harry's spine. The man certainly did look everything but intimidating. Still, there was something terribly wrong. Harry could feel it, but couldn't explain it. "How did you know that me and my friends are not from Larakain?"

"I know many things, Harry," Damnian purred.

"Are you related to Angelus?" Luna asked surprising everyone, including Harry.

Damnian smiled in an almost seductive way at the girl. "So you've been traveling with my older brother? And he is calling himself Angelus? Yes, Tenshi is my older brother."

All of them gasped and Harry almost felt faint. If what Damnian was saying was true then Angelus and Tenshi had to be the same person, but why? If only things were clearer... "Why were you dormant?"

"Because my power was sealed and I was placed under a sleeping curse."

"Who put you under that spell?" asked Harry with a very serious expression.

"It was my own brother, centuries ago."

"Why?" Harry wasn't satisfied.

"So many questions! You're tiring me, Harry. I don't know why Tenshi did this to me." Damnian's facial expressions saddened.

"It-It's alright," Harry replied with uncertainty. "Angelus might join us again. What will you do about it?"

"I'll have to face my brother sooner or later. It will be just fine with me. I do wish to see Tenshi... Angelus, once more."

Something nudged in Harry's mind. He was sure Al had told him of a sleeping man in what had seemed like a dream, but what exactly had Al told him? Harry tried to remember. He tried to concentrate with all his might, but then realized something. Al had never told him what to do about the sleeping man in Zanoa if they encountered him.

XxXxX

"Never!" Hermione replied one more time. She was dressed in a long peach colored sleeveless Roman style dress and chained to a wall, and her hair had been combed and done into a bun that was adorned with peach laces. "I'll never ask my friend for help!"

"It's the only way for him to know that you are here, just like him. He will never know that you are here if you don't contact him one more time. It might make him get to me faster."

Another voice spoke from the other side of the room. It came from a red haired young man who was also chained to a wall, dressed in baggy gray trousers and a blue-gray long sleeved loose shirt. "Who are you anyway? What do you want from us?"

A gloved hand caressed Hermione's face before the man turned around to face his other captive. "I am Nebureth and what I want is power. But before I put you to sleep I need you to contact that wretched boy once more!" The last words were spat with anger. "You will contact him like you've done before and you will also contact Al."

"Who the hell is Al?" Ron asked bewildered.

Hermione remained quiet. She knew very well who Al was and Ron knew too even if he couldn't add two and two at the moment. What Hermione wondered though, was why Nebureth wanted them to contact Dumbledore when the headmaster had disappeared from Hogwarts. To her it was simply confusing. "We don't know where Al is."

"He is here, just like you, my dear. Look." Nebureth summoned a maroon cauldron with a hand gesture and showed it to Hermione. It was a method almost like a Pensieve, but it showed in what seemed like water too, recollections of what Nebureth's soldiers had seen. He could record whatever was seen by one of his soldiers even if the soldier died. An image formed in the transparent liquid and Hermione gasped as she saw a boy fighting soldiers and fleeing from them.

"Why does he look like that? What did you do to him?" Hermione's lips trembled. She knew the boy was Dumbledore, but she couldn't understand why he looked younger than she and Ron.

"Do you like it? I've turned him into a child. I need him like that."

"Why?" Hermione asked on the verge of tears.

"You'll learn very soon. Now, to what I want from you--"

"I won't contact any of them!"

"Oh yes, you will." He patted Hermione's head as if she were a pet while with tear filled eyes she glared at him.

XxXxX

Al studied the golden whip an elf called Hollrik brought to him. He tested it several times and a smile formed on his lips as he noticed he hadn't forgotten how to wield the weapon. Fawkes glided around the empty hall while Al continued training, hitting floating spinners that had great speed to move about the room. He started to run around the room loosening himself and quickly regaining the ability he thought he had lost. He kept at it, concentrating hard until no more spinners remained floating. In a corner of the hall, there was sudden clapping and Al raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been there?"

Ureilhia smirked at the boy that was staring at her curiously. "Just got in by the end of your training. Do you really want to venture out there to look for that student of yours?"

"Yes. I have to find him."

"We can provide at least one companion for you. It would help us feel more... at ease."

"I don't want to intrude on you like that. With this weapon I think I can manage by myself."

"Still, it would be better for you not to be by yourself. I have a very bad feeling Nebureth is currently very happy for some reason."

"Why would you think something like that?"

"Follow me and see for yourself."

Wondering what Ureilhia meant with Nebureth being happy, Al followed the elven woman out of the building where he had been practicing and saw how many of the elven villagers were staring into the distance. Red smoke rose into the air and many of the elves looked either frightened or confused. "What is the meaning of that smoke?"

"Usually we see red smoke coming from Azfarath when Nebureth manages to capture an extraordinarily powerful child. We know that from stranded soldiers we've captured as our village is so close to the dark lord's territory. So far we've seen red smoke coming from there four times before. We've investigated and we know that the first time it was because Nebureth obtained one of the fairy princesses. The second time it was because he captured a fifteen year old gifted human mage. The third time was when he obtained two of our children that were very magical, and the fourth time was when he got a half-blood girl that was a blend between phoenix and fairy. The case of that girl was quite rare as I had never heard of anyone actually bonding with the Phoenix people for they didn't look human. As for today, we are clueless as to what child he has got."

Al looked nervous all of a sudden and he asked: "Could it be--"

"I don't think so. You're students are probably very far from these lands."

Al nodded, but still had a very bad feeling creeping inside him, something that kept screaming in his mind that he knew the children Nebureth had recently captured. He suddenly looked at Ureilhia and said: "I need a mirror."

The pointy eared blonde woman smiled at him and led him into the building they had just left minutes before. He followed her into a room and there was a mirror there. Al closed his eyes and chanted, feeling certain that he would be able to contact Harry. He waited as patiently as he could and suddenly an image formed in the mirror. It was Harry alright with people that had to be his companions, but Al gasped when he saw a man with them that shouldn't have been there. Right next to Harry was the green haired man that had been asleep and Al just couldn't bring himself to blurt anything about it. "Ha-Harry?"

"Professor! I mean, Al? Are you alright?" Harry asked looking relieved and excited at the same time.

"I'm fine, Harry. Are you... Are you still in Zanoa?"

"Yeah, Damnian here had just joined us when I felt I needed a mirror. He provided the mirror as we are still in his... palace."

Al swallowed, his eyes traveling from Damnian to Harry and from Harry to Damnian. "Y-You woke him..."

"It was an accident actually. One of my companions woke him. Why?"

"N-Nothing! Everything is fine!" Al's voice trembled and he looked faint.

"You don't look so good," Harry stated with honesty.

"Maybe we can find each other, Harry. Where are you heading now?"

"I haven't checked the map yet. Wait a second." Harry immediately used the map he also had inside him and saw that their next destination was called Mortghre. "Mortghre."

"I'll see you there then."

"Then you really are here?"

"Yes, but I can't explain now. Just remember that Mortghre is also known as the land of the dead. You'll find many undead creatures there and you have to be very careful with the--" Al gasped and the connection was suddenly lost.

In the mirror was Nebureth and he spoke to Al: "So you are with the elves! I should have figured as much. I'm very glad you decided to contact that boy. You've just saved my new pets from having to do it themselves... against their will." Nebureth sneered. "Do you wish to see my pets?" Al's breathing came in with difficulty when he saw Hermione and Ron. "I'll be coming for you, not so mighty Al."

Nebureth's image vanished from the mirror and Al's eyes watered. He tried to hide his face from Ureilhia in vain. It was humiliating for a man his age to cry. "Who were those children?"

"Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley," he muttered barely audibly. "They should have never contacted Harry. They only opened a gap for Nebureth to get them easily."

"You can't do anything for them. His idea is to lure you to his castle. It would be foolish of you to head there by yourself."

"I know I'm no match for him. I don't have summons... I'm heading for Mortghre." Al said in a resolute tone.

"You will have to leave now. He knows you're here." Al nodded at Ureilhia's words. He had to abandon the village fast.

Al easily prepared to leave and the elves provided him with food, potions, and many other things he would need. They also gave him a companion, a twenty-three year old female warrior named Sailka.

XxXxX

Harry was about to leave Zanoa along with his friends and exactly at the city's outskirts. Angelus, who barely glanced at Damnian, joined them. Angelus made the travelers follow him and to their surprise he escorted them to the strange airship, the Kokoshyon. Harry even wondered if there was some sort of joke going on around him when he saw that Angelus and Aklashya already knew each other. Without questions, the adventurers found themselves boarding the flying vehicle yet again. It wasn't until the Kokoshyon was flying that Angelus addressed Harry.

"Now you possess the summon that will merge with your magical form. It will happen soon enough."

"Merge? Like becoming one with the summon?"

"Exactly, but do not be frightened about that. You will only use that technique when you have the entire summons. When the time comes and you reach the final battle your summons will instead merge together and become the final summon that will consume all evil."

"Does Neville have the summon with which he will merge?"

"That is correct. He already knows everything about it just like you knew about Baetylus the moment she entered you."

"What about Luna?"

"Her time is coming. Just be patient."

"Is Damnian really your younger brother? Why did you seal his power and put him to sleep?"

Angelus remained quiet at that question. From the corner of his right eye, he saw Damnian approaching him. Gracefully, Damnian sat on the floor next to Angelus. "Long time no see, brother!"

Harry stared at the two men that were seated on the airship's floor in front of him. Angelus didn't even raise his eyes to see his younger brother while Damnian's eyes seemed to bounce with excitement as he fixed his eyes on his older brother. To Harry, it was a very odd scene and he wondered what secrets lay hidden between those two mysterious men.

Damnian suddenly got closer to Angelus and embraced him, but Angelus didn't return the gesture. The white haired man seemed numb and expressionless as his younger brother showed affection that Harry wondered if it was genuine, but having a feeling that it wasn't. He was sure that if he had had a brother and that brother had sealed his power and put him under a sleeping curse Harry wouldn't have shown any affection towards that brother at all. There was a chance that Damnian could be doing it to give a conscience or place some guilt within Angelus, but Angelus didn't seem to care at all. Still, Harry could have been mistaken, for as Damnian hugged Angelus even more and then buried his face on Angelus' chest Harry thought he saw wetness in Angelus' golden eyes and a single tear being wept.

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Thanks to: Rainbow Phoenix, HitoshirenzuKage, lovenotknown, and bandgsecurtiyaw for your reviews! 


	24. A Valley of Death

Beta-read by Weasley 8799

Song: 'Kibouno saku oka kara' by Aqua Timez

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**Ch. 24: A Valley of Death**

Damnian had closed his eyes blissfully as he held his older brother, but all of a sudden he lifted his head and with his right hand touched the mask Angelus wore. Damnian gently removed the mask to see his brother's entire face, his eyes looking as sad as Angelus'. Then, Damnian tried to touch Angelus' childlike features, but the older brother restrained Damnian, grasping Damnian's arm abruptly. Many eyes were on Angelus' face, including Harry's. The only one among them that had already gazed at Angelus' features before had been Neville, who was currently resting in a room, recovering from his recent evolution. Therefore, the rest of the adventurers were quite surprised by what they were seeing.

"How old are you?" Kroy asked, looking shocked.

"Old enough," was Angelus' vague reply before putting on the white cloth that even covered his nose.

"Beauty and youth should never be covered, brother," Damnian said with a smirk.

"What are you two anyway? You seem to be creatures that don't age like me who will now remain like this for all time, but what exactly are you?" Janryu asked, his expression almost bewildered.

Soshlan sent a suspicious glance in the brothers' direction, but shook his head. Not even the almost know-it-all elven fairy had an answer to what Angelus and Damnian were, but he was startled when Luna stated in a dreamy tone: "Isn't it obvious? They are an--" Luna was unable to finish her statement for the airship shook forcefully just like when the wild dragon attacked.

"What now?" blurted Dianeia.

"Sorry about that," started Kayshi. "We seem to be stuck. I avoided some mountains, but it seems that the Kokoshyon got entangled in something else."

A strange hissing sound came from outside and almost everyone in the ship covered their ears. Soon, they were all kneeling and the sound continued mercilessly. Harry thought he would go mad. Something in the sound was telling him to crash his head against the nearest wall until he died. He almost felt like it was the correct thing to do, reminding him of the Imperius Curse. He tried to get a grip and clenched his teeth trying to control himself, but he could hear now a voice in his head saying clearly in whispers, "Take your life. Take your life." Harry screamed wanting to get rid of the voice. It was truly worse than the Imperius Curse because the hissing noise wouldn't stop. Harry wasn't going to crash his head against anything, but his right hand went to his scabbard and removed the silver sword. Harry pointed the sword at his own chest, but the hissing stopped.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief along with his companions. He looked around and saw Janryu looking pale with two knives in his hands, Luna had a sore neck from pressing her staff against it, Dianeia had a concussion on her forehead from hitting herself with her rod, Kroy was bleeding from his wrists, and Soshlan was unconscious because he had knocked himself with one of his boomerangs. Nemaisse looked frightened, but was unharmed like Harry and Janryu. Harry also noticed that Aklashya, Kayshi, Angelus, and Damnian looked perfectly fine. "Why weren't you affected? And who stopped it?"

"I stopped it," Damnian's effeminate voice spoke. He had a smirk plastered on his face.

"I believe my son and I weren't affected because we are not magical beings," said Aklashya matter of factly in her usual nasal tone. "But we could hear a strange hissing sound, right Kayshi?"

"Yeah, it was almost like a snake's, but at the same time different," Kayshi muttered. "It hurt my ears!" The boy placed his hands over his ears to indicate how it had hurt as if it were needed.

Harry started towards a door and Dia asked, "Where are you going?"

"To check on Neville."

"I'll go with you," Dia said resolutely.

When they opened the door to the room where Neville was, they were immediately on alert. Neville was motionless on the bed, but Harry was relieved to see his friend was breathing. "He stupefied himself."

"He what?" Dianeia was genuinely confused with Harry's conclusion.

"He stupefied himself. He used a spell to get himself unconscious through it all."

When Harry came back to the main cabin with Dianeia, Soshlan was already awake and Luna was using healing magic on Kroy's injured wrists. Kroy looked extremely pale due to blood loss and Dianeia quickly produced a blood sphere for the half-Draconian. The sphere wasn't dark red but golden. "Here."

"Thanks Dianeia." Kroy was terribly embarrassed. He had been the one to cause the worst damage on his body.

"Can I?" Luna surprised Dianeia by placing a healing hand on the young woman's swollen forehead, healing it fast.

"Th-Thanks!" stammered Dia with flushed cheeks.

Luna eyed Harry carefully, but smiled when she saw he was perfectly fine. She had already cured her own neck and the concussion on Soshlan's head.

The hissing started again, but was cut abruptly and all eyes fell on Damnian. There was a strange glow on his face and he turned to Harry: "We have to kill it. Its tentacles are holding this vehicle."

Harry could have sworn there was glee in both Damnian's eyes and his tone of voice when he used the word 'kill', but Harry chose to ignore it. "Is this airship on land at least?"

Kayshi shook his head. "I don't think so. Whatever got us must be able to fly. You can always go up to the deck... There is a platform you can use, but whatever you do be careful with the blimp! It's connected to the deck!"

Aklashya concurred and even added, "Just remember that if you destroy the blimp not only I'll be furious, but we'll probably die, even if some of you can fly."

Harry laughed nervously and he looked at his friends. "Who will go with me?"

"You will only need me." Damnian sounded bored. "The others can stay behind."

Angelus stood up all of a sudden. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but shook his head. He fixed his eyes on Harry. "Go with him." Angelus' deep voice sounded tired, but confident.

Harry and Damnian got on a platform that Aklashya showed them and after she pressed a button it started to lift them. Harry immediately felt the strong and cold wind from the mountainous area slap him, but what had stopped the airship almost gave him a fright. Scaly brown tentacles had the Kokoshyon trapped, but what startled Harry was the horrid creature that had such tentacles. It was a giant flying head, just a head. Its hair was the tentacles just like in the case of gorgons where their hair was snakes. The flying head had one ruby eye, slits instead of a nose like Voldemort, and an open mouth that showed fangs like those of a vampire's along with a reptilian tongue that hanged from the mouth moving snake-like. The face itself was gray and to Harry it was the most horrible thing he had ever seen.

In seconds, Harry's sword was in his hands and he went against the giant face, but it moved its tongue to produce a force field that sent Harry flying backwards. Damnian caught the teen easily in his arms and smiled almost tenderly. "You are too weak, Harry. Leave it to me."

Disbelief showed on Harry's face as Damnian delicately caressed his hair as if he were a small child. He certainly hadn't enjoyed being called weak and Damnian's tone and treatment were even more offensive than Zheylks' had been. Damnian smirked at the creature and said in a pleasured voice: "You'll die." He raised his arms and Harry saw white shimmery threads come from Damnian's fingers. Harry's eyes went wide when the threads slashed the force field easily and slit the giant head and its tentacles to pieces. A pierced scream and slight hissing were heard before the pieces separated and crumbled to the earth below, freeing the airship. Damnian licked his lips, savouring his kill and turned to Harry with a sly smile. "Did you enjoy seeing it die?"

Harry felt chills all over his body. Even if Damnian was indeed Angelus' younger brother they were nothing alike. Still, there was nothing to prove that Damnian was an enemy even if the young looking man was a queer bloke in every aspect. Harry stared at the other man, dumbfounded. He didn't bother to answer the odd question.

"Should we return inside, Harry? You seem troubled," Damnian spoke with a concerned tone, but his gaze was completely empty of emotion.

"Let's go to the others," Harry agreed, his tone very serious.

XxXxX

Al and Sailka started to look for a spot to use the Rhombus transportation. There was no way they could tele-transport to Mortghre in Apparition fashion and Al wanted to reach the place as soon as possible. He was sure his instincts would lead him to Harry one way or another.

There were rocks already forming a circle in a secluded and semi-desertic area not too far from Shalzra. Al and Sailka got into the circle of rocks and Al lifted his right hand to invoke the required magic. In an instant, there was a glowing rhombus inside the circle of rocks and both elf and human stepped into the center of the rhombus. Al then thought about their destination and they vanished.

Mortghre could be easily identified. To Al, it hadn't changed one bit. It was the same valley of death he remembered. Bones were scattered throughout the earth and the lack of sunlight was evident. By looking at the sky, a person could conclude that the sun never rose in that land. The whole place looked dark and dreary, but Al was already familiar with such a land, even if he had been there more than one century before.

"How do you think we'll find that young man you speak about?" asked the elven woman called Sailka. She wasn't the most talkative companion, but a companion nonetheless. The female warrior had boyishly short white blonde hair that allowed a perfect view of her pointy elf ears. She had brown eyes and a pretty face with full pink lips, but her body was well built and squared with broad shoulders, making her look almost manly. She wore a brown headband over her forehead and was dressed with brown trousers and a brown sleeveless shirt under a golden coat of mail. Golden cuffs covered not only her wrists, but also part of her strong and rough hands. Sailka was also heavily armed. She had a sword, quiver, bow, and even a shortened spear that could be magically enlarged on her back. The warrior was also one of the few elves capable of wielding some magic, especially curative spells.

"He is not here yet," replied Al, concentrating on feeling Harry. "We've arrived sooner than them, but it makes sense. We were the ones in a rush to avoid Nebureth's men."

"What should we do then?"

"We wait!" Al answered with a smile, his blue eyes twinkling.

"I guess I have a better answer though. We fight." Sailka got into a fighting stance looking almost joyful at having something to do rather than just stand and wait. Strange floating skeletons in rags had surrounded the pair and Al nodded in agreement with Sailka's statement, preparing his whip. Fawkes, who had been perched on Al's shoulder all along, trilled with excitement.

XxXxX

"We've arrived," Kayshi announced before slightly relaxing in his pilot chair. "And I have to say this place gives me the creeps. I truly hope you guys don't plan to stay here for a long while..."

"We don't," Harry said. "I still have no idea why we had to come here. There are no fragments." Harry even re-checked his internal scanner only to get the same answer that he already knew, that there were indeed no fragments in such obscure land.

"That's because the fragment that you would have found here found you first and went to you," Angelus said expressionlessly.

"Lamorte?" asked Harry raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Still, you have to level up in this place. You have to experience every type of creature plus one of your companions will soon be evolving."

"Luna?" Harry whispered, but Angelus didn't answer.

Harry was still thinking about how strange Damnian was when they climbed down from the airship. He didn't even notice when Dianeia grabbed his hand and he mechanically closed his hand on hers.

They started their walk through the dark valley, feeling bones crushing under their boots. Nemaisse looked horrified with the scenery and kept clinging to Soshlan who didn't look his best either. Kroy's enormous eyes kept scanning the land with intense curiosity while Neville, who was not feverish anymore, had a quivering lower lip. Luna had her usual dreamy gaze and looked amused, her protuberant eyes studying her surroundings. Janryu looked like he didn't care about the place, Dianeia looked almost frightened as she tightened her hand hold around Harry's hand, Angelus' gaze didn't show any emotion, and Damnian had a smirk on his rosy lips. Harry looked at Damnian through the corner of his eye and didn't like Damnian's expression. The queer bloke seemed to be enjoying Mortghre.

"Isn't this place beautiful?" Everyone except Angelus cringed with Damnian's question. "You have to appreciate the beauty of this land, a land with no life where only the undead dwell, not vampires for they need to feed on the living, but the real undead beings." Damnian smiled blissfully with closed eyes and then opened his golden orbs to look at Janryu. The young vampire was looking at Damnian incredulously even if the incredibly handsome chap was right. Vampires wouldn't be able to survive in Mortghre if the only creatures there were bloodless. "Death is such a beautiful thing, don't you think so, young vampire?"

Janryu blinked confused before saying, "Look, dude. I don't quite agree with that. Vampires may be considered somewhat undead, but I do feel alive and I like feeling alive. I also have blood in me even if it is not like a normal living creature's blood so don't include me in your abnormal way of thinking."

"You are just naïve, young vampire." Damnian placed a hand on Janryu's face and Janryu pulled back from the touch as if he had been stung. "Maybe someday you'll agree with me," Damnian said boringly in his velvety voice. "What about you, Draconian? Don't you find this land to your liking?"

Harry frowned. It almost seemed that Damnian was trying to win the ones that could be considered dark creatures in their group, as if trying to influence them somehow. Kroy glanced at Damnian and shook his head. "It's half-Draconian, and no. I don't like this place at all."

"You looked at this place curiously, Kroy!" Damnian drawled.

"I was simply studying and I admit I'm not intimidated with this land, but it's not a place I would choose to live in."

"You are all so boring. You cannot accept the beauty of a land of darkness."

A dreamy voice surprised everyone then as it was so unexpected. "It is indeed beautiful. Every single place has its own unique beauty, but not everyone can see it. This place may appear lacking brightness, but the solitude it shows, its saddened emotions, what it will never be; that's beautiful." Luna smiled at Damnian, but the gesture seemed to take him aback.

"Trouble," blurted Kroy and Janryu at the same time. In seconds, howling gray spirits surrounded them. The undead beings floated looking like mantles with faces.

Neville started to shoot at the spirits, but it was useless. The same happened with every other weapon like Harry's sword, Luna's staff, Soshlan's boomerang; all weapons were completely useless. Janryu used ice magic, but frozen spirits easily unfroze themselves. Dianeia then used fire magic with her rod, but the spirits cackled as they easily extinguished the fire by absorbing it into their ghastly bodies.

Angelus looked almost annoyed and yelled in a very strong voice: "They can only be defeated with holy magic! Stop wasting your time!"

Damnian had been enjoying the show and was literally giggling next to his older brother. Harry produced a wave of holy magic, being imitated by Dianeia and Kroy. Kroy could wield a little bit of holy magic even when he was a half-blood. Nemaisse also had a little holy magic and created small spheres that she sent against the spirits, making holes on them as if the spheres were bullets. Soshlan, who was the other one with strong holy magic besides Harry and Dianeia, flew upwards, allowed his rune star to glow bright golden, extended his hands to both sides, and produced an extremely powerful holy barrier that consumed all of the remaining spirits. He then landed, his pastel yellow eyes glowing with happiness. "I learned something new!" he muttered with excitement.

Angelus placed a hand on the happy boy's left shoulder. "It's part of what comes after evolving."

Damnian fixed his eyes on Soshlan with a look of pure hatred. and exactly at that moment, Harry looked at the man that was Angelus' younger brother, but the expression in Damnian's eyes immediately changed and he smiled cockily at Harry. He then approached Soshlan. "That's great magic you have there. I do hope Lord Nebureth doesn't get you. Your racial combination is... amusing." Damnian softly caressed Soshlan's left cheek, but quickly removed his hand as if trying to avoid contamination with the light being. "Let's continue. Harry has someone to find, right Harry?"

"That's true, but I don't know how I'll be able to find Al in this place." Harry's eyes studied the whole dark expansion in front of him and sighed.

"He will find you," Angelus said. "We walk."

For one whole hour, the adventurers journeyed through the bone filled roads, occasionally fighting spirits, wraiths, floating skeletons, zombies that were like the Inferi in the Wizarding world, and specters. All of those creatures had to be defeated exclusively with holy magic.

Dianeia finished three specters with a strong holy magic wave and turned to Harry, looking tired. "Using too much holy magic depletes our magical reserve! We can't go on like this!"

Harry didn't look tired, but Nemaisse hadn't been able to fight anymore and Soshlan was looking faint. Kroy tried not to appear exhausted, but he was feeling the strain of using that holy magic too much.

Luna smiled at them and removed a vial from one of her sacks. "We have vials to replenish our magic. You can drink them."

"Great idea, Luna!" Harry said approvingly. He drank a vial and gave one to Dianeia, Neville provided vials for Kroy and Soshlan, and Luna gave a vial to Nemaisse. Damnian gave them a look of disgust that went unnoticed by all except by Angelus, who didn't utter one word about it. Harry and his friends had to discover the truth about Damnian by themselves, eventually.

After another hour, Harry stopped, looking around. "What's wrong?" Neville asked him.

"I hear screams." Just then flying creatures that weren't of the undead type surrounded them. The creatures looked like scaly greenish females with bird wings, had circular red eyes, small horns above their heads, fangs, and bird-talons instead of feet. Harry prepared his sword and glanced at Angelus questioningly, but it wasn't Angelus who answered.

"Those are harpies! They probably want whatever food and potions we have!" Soshlan shouted.

The screaming harpies lunged themselves at them and one of them lifted Nemaisse with its talons. Soshlan immediately used one of his boomerangs, hitting the harpy's talons and making it drop Nemaisse, who was easily caught by Janryu. Harry swung his sword at a harpy who attacked him and sliced it in two, Kroy sent scales against another of the creatures and melted it in its own blood, and Neville shot another harpy until it dropped to the ground and vanished. The others got ready to defend themselves too, but only Janryu managed to defeat one of the harpies with his knives before Damnian stepped forward and used his sharp threads to trap the remaining harpies, eight in total. He whispered, "Die!" Damnian pulled the threads, a look of delight on his face as the pulled threads sliced the screaming creatures to pieces. Damnian turned to Harry and the rest, but they gave him shocked stares. "It is easier to destroy them all at once, isn't it?" Damnian's golden eyes shimmered with glee.

Everyone was silent and Harry kept having a bad feeling about Angelus' younger brother. He didn't like how that man enjoyed seeing creatures die even if they were enemies. Harry certainly didn't enjoy killing and the way that Damnian used for killing was horrid.

"There you are!" a voice exclaimed from their right side. Al jogged towards Harry with Sailka next to him. "I traced you! Glad it actually worked! But I have to say Miss Lovegood was the easiest to trace!"

Harry thought that made perfect sense because Luna was the only one from Earth that hadn't evolved yet. "I'm glad you're all right, professor, I mean, Al."

"Were you able to defeat undead creatures without major trouble?" asked Al.

"Yes, no problems at all," Harry answered with a smile.

Al seemed relieved, but he then frowned as he looked at the green haired man. He shook his head, ignoring his worry about the man he knew was evil and spoke to Harry, "Harry, Ron and Hermione are here in Larakain. Nebureth has them."

Harry's eyes went wide. Of all things, he would have never expected such terrible news.

XxXxX

Ron and Hermione were pulled with chains toward an enormous chamber that was bigger than Hogwarts' Great Hall. Hermione's eyes stared in horror at the many coffin-like capsules that contained children throughout the chamber. She approached one of the capsules and saw through a circular window the face of a small child that had to be five years old at the most. She glared at Nebureth and yelled: "This is horrible! How can you do something like this?"

Ron gaped while gazing at the same scenery that Hermione had studied. He also checked several capsules' windows and saw a girl that could be ten, a boy that could be twelve, and a young woman that could be eighteen.

Hermione saw Nebureth's permanent smirk, turned to another capsule and screamed, covering her face. The tiny face in that capsule had to be a slumbering baby and she couldn't control the tears forming on her eyes.

"Do you like it, my dear?"

Hermione sobbed in gasps, but raised her face and noticed that there were luminous strings that went from the capsules to a tri-dimensional octagon that was connected to the ceiling. "What is--"

"That?" Nebureth completed for her. "That is the source absorbing all the youthful energy."

The girl's eyes followed what looked like a white hose until they locked with a piece of machinery. Her teary gaze turned to Nebureth inquisitively and he laughed. "Want to see how it works?" Nebureth approached the machine, magically produced a goblet in his right hand, pressed a button in an almost comedic act, and a strange diamond white elixir filled the goblet. "Cheers!" he said to Ron and Hermione before swallowing the whole contents. He lifted the goblet. "This is what they provide me with. Now, follow me."

The two Hogwarts students didn't really have a choice. The chains pulled them after Nebureth because he summoned them to follow him. There were two capsules that were empty and Ron and Hermione looked at each other confused. "These have no children."

"That's because..." The capsules opened on their own. "...these are for you." He snapped his fingers and the chains dropped to the ground, but both Ron and Hermione were lifted into the air.

"You can't do this!" Ron yelled bewildered.

"Oh, I actually can! Sleep tight!" Nebureth said before starting to laugh maniacally. Hermione was placed in one capsule and Ron in the other. They both screamed, but the screams ceased when the capsules shut themselves. Everything had gone quiet and both Ron and Hermione were in deep sleep.

* * *

A/N: I wasn't very happy with this chapter as I felt it came out with too much dialogue. That happens when you try to write while being blocked, I guess. Any suggestions and constructive criticism will be appreciated. Thank you. :) 

Thanks to: bandgsecurtiyaw, HitoshirenzuKage, Rainbow Phoenix, and lovenotknown (hope you won't be too lost!)


	25. Fire and Lightning

A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long! Eep! My life is still hectic, but be assured that I'm alive.

This chapter came out short and not so exciting, but I guess it's all right. There will be action coming soon, I hope. lol

Non beta-read version.

Song: 'Himawari' by Aqua Timez

* * *

**Ch. 25: Fire and Lightning**

"Are you really Professor Dumbledore?" Neville asked, looking amazed by the boy that looked younger than him, even if the boy was tall for his years.

Al's bright blue eyes twinkled at the question and the fourteen year old looking headmaster nodded. "Yes, Mr. Longbottom. I am."

Luna was smiling while she approached Al, her features in a dream-like state. "Headmaster, it's very exciting to see you like this. Can I take a picture of you? I will save it for all time."

Harry almost wanted to snap. He had just found out Ron and Hermione were in Nebureth's hands and no one seemed to care. He put his hands into fists, knelt, and punched the bone filled earth. Everyone stared at him and Dianeia lowered herself, placing her hands on his shoulders. "We can't do anything right now, Harry. We are not ready to go to Nebureth's realm. Harry, I too have someone in his hands, remember?"

Harry felt suddenly very stupid and his whole body went numb when he realized Dianeia was right. He had to swallow the foul news about his friends, but he couldn't do anything about it yet, just like Dianeia couldn't simply fly to Nebureth's fortress to try and rescue Nhuriel. "I'm sorry," he muttered under his breath.

"Don't be," replied Luna, a camera ready in her hands, and Harry's eyes locked with her own gaze. "You don't have to be sorry for how you feel. We will rescue them in due time."

"Yeah!" said Neville. "We'll rescue Ron and Hermione plus at least we know that Nebureth doesn't hurt the children, right?" Neville turned to Al looking a little unsure of himself and Al nodded reassuringly.

Albus had learned much about Nebureth and what Larakain's Dark Lord was doing during his stay in Shalzra. He had also learned that Nebureth was half elf. "We will rescue them."

"Will you stay with us?" There was hope in Harry's eyes when he asked Al. For some reason he felt more secure if the ancient headmaster was with them, probably due to seeing Dumbledore as a great wizard and mentor.

"Why would I leave you when I've already gotten here? I'll be with you until the end! I will help you, Mr... Harry." Al rolled his eyes after correcting himself.

Angelus glanced at both Harry and Al and shook his head while his younger brother, Damnian, smirked with queer delight before approaching Al. "Even though I was asleep during your own time I know everything about you, mighty Al." Al's eyes lost all shine in them and his lips tightened. Damnian smiled wistfully and whispered in Al's ear, "I also know how desperate you are to tell Harry not to trust me. Do not try it, ancient little one. Yes, he will learn on his own, but it's not the time yet. A word of caution, constantly watch your back."

Damnian pulled away from Al and he expected the boy to glare at him, but Al didn't glare. In fact, the auburn haired boy smiled almost genuinely, eyes twinkling, and answered: "Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it."

Angelus' younger brother was only taken aback for a few seconds before quickly recovering. "Anytime, Al. Anytime."

"Smile!" Luna almost surprised them by taking a picture and Al laughed. After that everyone joined and soon enough pictures of everyone had been taken.

The moment of happiness lasted only minutes before they were yet again fighting floating lightning producing creatures. Al wielded his whip with ease against the creatures. It would have been easier to use water magic against them, but they decided to go againt the cube-like and eye covered creatures with physical attacks. Things seemed completely normal with Harry slashing the creatures with his silver sword, Neville using his silver guns, and Luna using her silver staff. The others used their own physical methods, but one of the cubes approached Luna and morphed into a lightning silhouette that looked almost like a fox. The lightning fox invaded Luna's body by jumping into her and the girl screamed. In the middle of the fight no one noticed what had just happened and no one noticed either when the darkened skies of Mortghre started to produce lightning that was aimed at Luna's convulsing frame. Her body absorbed the bolts and went still.

Neville had been fighting another lightning cube and saw Luna on the ground, not moving. The image distracted him and if it hadn't been for the reflexes he had developed the creature would have defeated him. Right when the creature opened all of its eyes and produced a great bolt to shock Neville he reacted by channeling water magic into his knuckles and boots. The creature tried to tackle him, glowing with its lightning power, but Neville punched it and kicked it, vanquishing it with his water blows. The young man ran towards Luna and cradled her in his arms. "Luna! Luna! What's wrong?" The girl was unconscious and Neville got nervous, biting his lower lip while trying to figure what had happened.

"It has started!" Angelus' deep voice stated. The fight was over.

"What do you mean?" a confused Neville asked.

"He means that her mutation has been chosen, but now we need to find refuge. This is a nasty lightning storm!" Al's remark brought them to their current situation and many gazes automatically fixed on the constantly white and light blue streaked sky that kept causing roaring thunder.

Swiftly lifting Luna, Neville sent an inquisitive glance towards Harry. "Al is right. We'll be fried if we stay here."

In answer to Harry's words Janryu screamed as he was shocked by a bolt. His hair frizzed causing Soshlan and Nemaisse to giggle. "It's not funny!" retorted the vampire with a glare.

"At least you cannot die by being shocked, but there are others among us that are not classified as undead." Kroy replied, also getting an angry glance from the young vampire.

"But where can we get shelter? We are in the middle of nowhere!" Dianeia blurted with frightened eyes that kept scanning their surroundings.

"We can tele-transport to the ends of this land," suggested Sailka. "The border is not far."

Harry nodded at the elven warrior's suggestion and they all held on to each other and disappeared, appearing on the opposite edge.

Angelus removed his mask and softly blew into a burgundy ring he produced in his right hand. He then closed his eyes and when he opened them the ring sprouted wings and flew away. "When our business is finished in Phaxeram the airship will be waiting for us."

"Phaxeram?" asked Harry.

"The Phoenix civilization's city, Harry. It's where we are heading and it is beyond those mountains." Al pointed into a chain of mountains ahead of them.

"They are very boring people if you asked me. Why would you waste your time going there, Harry? You won't find any fragments there. We should just call the airship now and leave towards Azfarath to finish this once and for all." Damnian drawled with a bored expression on his face while staring at his delicate hands.

"Silence!" Angelus commanded in an semi-angered tone. "We are not ready to go to Azfarath and you know it."

Harry started to have an internal battle at that moment. He didn't feel ready to fight Nebureth and he had a feeling Angelus was right, but at the same time he felt quite tempted to follow Damnian's suggestion. It almost made sense to him that they were indeed wasting time and that they should simply head for Azfarath and get it over with. Nebureth had Ron and Hermione! Harry wanted to free his friends! Shaking his head from the barrage of thoughts Harry spoke: "We will head for Phaxeram. I have a feeling we'll obtain something there, even if there are no fragments." Harry then checked his map and nodded, more to himself than to anyone in particular.

XxXxX

The journey towards Phaxeram was tiring and full of encounters with fiends. By the time they reached the city's outskirts everyone wanted to lie down and sleep. Harry wondered if they would be allowed to rest in the city, but Angelus told him that it could be difficult so they made camp.

That night Harry couldn't sleep. Images of Ron and Hermione kept tormenting him. He knew deep inside that they hadn't been harmed, but it pained him to feel that they were in that world because of him. He still couldn't understand how something like that could have happened. It was he who had touched the strange stone with Neville and Luna. Ron and Hermione had nothing to do with it. They were supposed to be in Hogwarts, happily taking classes and waiting patiently for him, Harry, to return to them. Instead, now they were probably in slumber, just like many other children from Larakain.

"Hey!" The soft tenor voice woke Harry and he stared at the tanned man with glowing blue eyes that was beside him. "You should try to rest. You won't gain anything by standing there."

"I can't sleep, Kroy. It's just not possible to shut my eyes and ignore what's happening."

"It will pass. You might not be able to sleep for the first two nights, but eventually you will."

"I know." Harry closed his eyes and sighed. "Maybe I should try sleeping. I don't know. It's just... Never mind."

Kroy suddenly hissed and lifted his right hand in a silencing gesture. Harry readied himself along with his half-Draconian companion and whispered, "Should we wake the others?" Kroy shook his head and Harry waited. Someone was watching them, but the creature wasn't attacking. It was simply observing them.

"It's studying us," Kroy said.

"Do you think it might be from the city?"

"Perhaps." Cautiously, Kroy approached some trees and spoke aloud. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Harry was shocked beyond measure when he saw a bird-like creature come out of hiding. The creature stood like a human and walked like a human, but had claws instead of feet, and it had human hands that merged with crimson and amber feather covered arms that looked as if they could transform into wings. Harry could see part of those arms even when they were covered with wide long sleeves. The creature was dressed in dark brown robes down to its claws. It's bird-like face looked at Kroy and then at Harry. Harry identified the head as that of a phoenix'. Evidently, the creature was from the city of Phaxeram.

"It's been a very long time since we've had any visitors," the creature spoke, full of confidence. "I am one of the city's guardians. I had to check on you."

"Will you let us into the city in the morning?" Harry asked the creature.

"In the morning, yes. The city's doors remain closed during nighttime."

"What is your name?"

The creature studied Harry before responding. "My name is Closkien. I will leave now."

Kroy and Harry saw Closkien leave and Harry approached Kroy. "Do you think it will be all right? Do you reckon he trusts us?"

"I don't know, Harry. I've never even seen these creatures before."

XxXxX

It wasn't the sun's rays that awoke the travelers. Instead, they were startled by the screeching noise of giant metallic doors opening, exposing the city before them. They folded their tents and stared perplexed at the strange city. It looked like they were being welcome, but they didn't know why. Harry even wondered if it was some sort of trap, but a hand on his shoulder calmed him and Al's voice spoke in his ear. "It was like this too when I came. They are not exactly friendly, but they welcome strangers."

Luna, who had awoken with the others in the morning, looked tired. It seemed that what kept her standing was the chubby boy that held her lovingly, helping her stay focused.

Harry looked at Angelus, waiting for a signal from the older man that didn't come so he took the first step, leading the rest of them into the city. A group of citizens got in front of them and walked, leading them into some specific place. Eventually, they arrived at a temple and entered it. The temple was golden and full of splendor. The light clashed with the golden walls and floor, blinding the adventurers.

The altar was extremely large and full of non moving Phoenix people, all in golden robes and wearing golden crowns or tiaras on their feathered heads. One of them spoke with a female voice, "Now choose which one of you will be granted the power you seek."

An expression of confusion adorned Harry's face. "We seek no power."

"Everyone seeks power to either do right or wrong." The female's eyes landed on Al and the phoenix perched on his left shoulder. Her gaze then landed on each of Harry's companions and then on Harry again. "You have the phoenix summon, yet you have already evolved." Harry seemed more confused at the statement and was alarmed when the priestess said, "You have chosen. Take what you need and evolve."

Luna fainted into Neville's arms, her body glowing golden. "What's happening to her now?" Neville asked in quivery voice.

"The phoenix power is merging with lightning. Her mutation will be... a queer one. I've never seen something like this, but when the time comes she will merge with two summons at the same time, the lightning one and the fire one."

"Will Fenghuang abandon me?" an unsure Harry inquired.

"No, he won't. He will simply merge with her and Bijon, but he will remain your summon. Now, have this." A majestic golden sword floated towards Harry and his silver one abandoned his scabbard and landed on the priestess' hands. "One last word, young travelers. Beware of one of your companions."

* * *

Thanks to: HiddenETC, bandgsecurtiyaw, Rainbow Phoenix, and lovenotknown! 


	26. The Pure Heart and The Dark One

A/N: Sorry for the wait! Was it two weeks? Anyway, this one came a bit longer so hope this will save me from your wrath. -hides-

Non beta-read version.

Song: 'Joushou Kiryu' by Aqua Timez

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**Ch. 26: The Pure Heart and the Dark One**

Harry's gaze hardened at the words the phoenix priestess had pronounced. He trusted all of his companions except one, but he wanted to trust Damnian all the same. Damnian was, after all, Angelus' younger brother. He couldn't be bad, could he? Why would Damnian be bad when his older brother had helped them so much? Damnian had also helped them defeat fiends and he didn't seem like someone who would work for Nebureth.

"You're time is almost up, ancient Al. Be brave and don't lose heart." The words had woken Harry from his temporary lapse and he stared at Al, just like everyone else did. Neville held Luna in his arms protectively, but his eyes were on his headmaster. Like the others, Neville waited for Al's response.

"I'll be ready, whatever comes. I know my time will come sooner or later and I will be ready to face my destiny. My only hope is that it won't be in vain and everything will be for a good cause."

"It will be for a good cause, ancient one. It will be. Do not fear." The priestess approached Al and gently moved her winged arm above Al's head, a calming spell befalling upon the boy. He glowed golden as the spell traced itself around his body and then the priestess left him, her head low. "Go to Fajishmla. Everything will be revealed there."

Soshlan gasped when he heard the name of the land they would head for. Harry gave him an inquisitive gaze and the elven fairy spoke quickly, gesticulating with his delicate looking hands. "Fajishmla is the land where my mother was born, the land of the faeries. I've never been there in all my life."

The altar darkened and the adventurers were no longer able to see the priests and priestesses that had been there only seconds before. A golden light surrounded them and the last thing they heard was the priestess' voice yet again, saying: "You will continue your journey. We bid you farewell. Remember, if the pure heart is chosen correctly you will receive a summon that has never been obtained before."

Surprised, they found themselves outside the city's gates, the priestess' last words still echoing in their minds. The Kokoshyon was there, waiting for them, and Harry couldn't help but think that everything in Larakain was magical in a very strange way. He walked with his friends, many thoughts on his mind. He didn't even notice when he boarded the airship and sat next to Dianeia, who was also deep in thought.

"Harry, I have a very bad feeling."

Harry was abruptly brought to reality by the young woman's fears. "Why?"

"I don't know." Her face showed uncertainty, insecurities, unleashed fear. "I just think that something will happen and we will never be able to see each other again." Her hands were fumbling nervously with the silvery tunic that covered part of her silvery coloured trousers.

"Don't say that. Everything will be all right. We will finish Nebureth and then I'll take you with me to my world. You have nothing to worry about." Harry squeezed her right hand to reassure her, but could feel her hand quivering in his.

"What about my family? Will I ever see them again? Will I be accepted in your world, Harry?" Her gaze was intense and almost overwhelming, but Harry wanted to remain calm.

"Well, I traveled here, didn't I? There will probably be a way for you to see your family. You'll see. We'll work something out." Harry placed a quick kiss on Dianeia's lips and tenderly caressed her right cheek. "Trust me, Dia." The girl nodded, but her eyes were still clouded with doubts and confusion.

A while later, everyone had gone into rooms after Angelus announced that they wouldn't reach Fajishmla until the next day. For a complete hour, Harry watched Dianeia sleep while thinking about her fears. Was there a chance that she could be right? The truth was that he had a very bad feeling too, but he wanted to think that the uncertainty came from paranoia rather than from crude reality.

XxXxX

Neville watched over Luna that night. She had told him she was fine and that he shouldn't worry much because she felt all right, but he preferred to remain vigilant no matter what. Neville thought the latest events that had unravelled with them shouldn't be taken lightly. He couldn't help worrying about her and he had good reason to act like he did. He loved her, even if he hadn't found the time to tell her properly. He suspected that she knew. Luna was, after all, a girl who knew many things. Neville was sure she had figured his feelings out, but hadn't commented on them.

"Neville? Still awake?" Luna's beautiful eyes studied Neville with a curious glint in them and he couldn't help smiling at her.

"You can sleep. I'll keep a watch on you."

"You should rest too. I have a feeling that we'll need all our strength very soon. Try sleeping. I already told you I feel perfectly fine." Luna's voice was quite soothing with the dreamy touch it always had. Neville lowered his gaze and shook his head, but she placed a hand on his left shoulder. "Rest. I'll appreciate it."

"Luna..." The girl had removed her right hand from Neville's shoulder and had quickly used her index finger to shush him. Both stared at each other and the awkward silence started to make Neville uncomfortable. He wanted to take the first step into telling her how he felt about her, but for some reason, the Gryffindor bravery wasn't helping him in those matters. He had been able to increase his courage in great measures ever since in 5th year he had gone to the Ministry of Magic. His abilities had develop even more in Larakain. Neville could easily use magic, shoot fiends with his guns, or use powerful kicks and punches in close combat; but he couldn't mutter three simple words to the girl in front of him. To make matters worse, Luna was smiling at him. It was almost as if she could read his mind.

Neville was shocked when he suddenly found Luna's face closer than ever, her smile never leaving her lips. He didn't know what made him do it, but on impulse more than anything else, he brushed his lips against hers. In an instant his eyes were closed and her lips were his. She didn't break the connection and that gave him more confidence, but after a little while they separated. He could almost feel the room spinning, but then he decided sleep was definitely a good thing to do. Smiling back at Luna, Neville lied down beside her. He grabbed her hand, his heart bursting with joy. Less than half an hour later both Luna and Neville were sleeping, their hands still joined.

XxXxX

Screams in the airship woke everyone all of a sudden. It was still way too early to get up, but the screams wouldn't stop. Full of alertness, Harry ran out of the cabin he was sharing with Dianeia looking for the source of those screams of pain. His face encountered Kroy's. The man looked as startled as Harry did and both ran to the cabin that projected the piercing noise. It was the cabin Soshlan shared with Nemaisse.

Kroy flung the door open and Harry's gaze hardened when he saw Janryu holding a screaming Soshlan. Nemaisse was crying out of fear and Harry shook his head thinking badly of the young vampire, but Janryu quickly defended himself. "It's not what you're thinking!" Janryu yelled between Soshlan's screams. "I simply arrived here first because my room is the next one!"

"It's true," Kroy confirmed. He had been sharing a cabin with Janryu, but Janryu had been faster in getting to the source of all the screaming.

Angelus and Al entered the room then, the rest of all the crew behind them. They were too many to fit inside the small room.

Janryu kept trying to control Soshlan's body, but the elven fairy was having unexplained seizures. He had stopped screaming and Nemaisse started to explain, "It was all of a sudden! His screams woke me up and I just couldn't figure what was wrong. I tried to calm him, but it's almost like he is trapped inside his own mind!"

Soshlan's golden hair was messy and his eyes were open, but they were completely white. He started to cough through the seizures with Janryu holding him firmly. Al moved towards the pair, a frown on his face. "I've never seen anything like this. Angelus?" Al turned to the man standing at the door. Angelus removed his right glove, approached the convulsing boy, and placed his hand on Soshlan's head. In seconds, the boy stopped trembling and went still in Janryu's arms. All eyes were on Angelus then.

"What has just happened?" Harry asked, full of uncertainty.

The least expected person to answer started mumbling, eyes closed. "Tr-trying... To kill me. He is trying to kill me. Help..."

As if expecting everyone to lash out at him, Janryu started to defend himself yet again. "I'm positive he is not talking about me. I don't have any psychic powers to get into anyone's mind to kill him."

Ignoring what the vampire had just said Al asked Soshlan, "Who is trying to kill you?"

Soshlan opened his eyes, shrieked, and pushed Janryu away. "You were in my mind, you freak! You were strangling me while in that hideous demonic vampiric form you take! I couldn't even wake up! You were killing me in my dream!"

Janryu paled, if paling was possible for a vampire like him. He shook his head in disbelief, a look of deep hurt in his light violet orbs. His lower lip trembled and he stared at Harry. "It's not true! I--"

"I believe you," Harry answered expressionlessly. Janryu had passed the test in Xaphan. He couldn't be a traitor, but everything was too confusing. Harry could hear the words of the phoenix priestess echoing anew. "_One last word, young travelers. Beware of one of your companions._" Harry lowered his face, but then scanned his surroundings looking for a particular person and found his objective. Angelus' younger brother was at the doorframe with Neville, Luna, Dianeia, Sailka, Aklashya, and Kayshi. All of the faces were staring into the room.

Harry wasn't the only one looking straight at Damnian. Al was doing the same thing and Harry noticed a slight fury in Al's bright blue eyes. "Al?" he asked confused.

The change in Al's demeanor was astounding. Al smiled cheerfully at Harry and the usual twinkle of his eyes was there. He passed by Harry's side and placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder before whispering, "Things are all right now. The truth will be revealed very soon."

Harry nodded, but at the same time there was something nagging at him. Al knew, but wasn't telling him anything. He saw Al about to step out the door, the others stepping aside to give him space, and Harry jogged and grabbed Al's shoulder. "Tell me! You know something!"

Al's mouth opened as if to tell Harry what Harry wanted to know, but the mouth shut. Al closed his eyes and then opened them, a determined gaze upon Harry's face. "You will find what you need to know in due time. I shouldn't be here in the first place. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Harry blurted a bit angrier than planned. Even looking younger than him, Dumbledore would still hide things from him. Harry knew the headmaster was wise, but sometimes he wondered if leaving him ignorant was correct on Dumbledore's part.

Al look saddened and Fawkes came seemingly out of nowhere, singing a calming tune before perching himself on his human's right shoulder. The fourteen-year-old looking boy then continued his pace towards the cabin he had been sharing with Angelus.

XxXxX

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that the airship finally landed in front of what looked like giant white and gray rocks put together. There was nothing neither there nor in the distance that would resemble a city. Nemaisse kept looking at the rocks as they descended from the airship and asked aloud, "Is this the right place? I only see what looks like a wall of rocks."

Kayshi stared dumbfounded at the many rocks in front of where he had landed the ship and retorted, "Everything indicates that Fajishmla's entrance should be exactly where those rocks are." The pink-haired boy hadn't really gotten out of the Kokoshyon, but was standing at the airship's entrance with his mother.

"Well, you could have gotten this location wrong. You are a child after all..." Nemaisse said sympathetically.

"I may be a child, but I'm one goddamn pilot. I don't err stupidly," the boy admonished angrily.

"There's something written in the rocks." Luna pointed her finger at some strange symbols in one of the giant rocks and everyone gathered in front of the white rock that was different from the others. "I cannot read that." The girl looked disappointed as she gazed at the unusual symbols that were like letters.

"Can anyone read it?" Harry looked at his comrades and everyone shook their heads except for Soshlan.

"I can," the elven fairy stated, enthralled. "It says: 'A melody with harmony will uncover what you seek.' This is fairy language." A smile adorned the boy's lips. "It seems we have to use music to open the rocks. I think we are in the right place and Fajishmla is hidden. Only fairies or people with knowledge of the fairy language would be able to read this."

Harry glanced suspiciously at Al and thought he saw a sly grin on Al's face. It was obvious Al knew they were in the correct place, but had refrained from stating so. Harry then turned to Dianeia. "Maybe you can sing something. In that way we can open those rocks."

Dianeia's cheeks burned crimson and she rapidly shook her head. "I can't sing. I only sang that one time when we needed to escape from those bandits, but I don't want to embarrass myself here."

"Why not?" Neville inquired confused.

Nemaisse and Luna started to laugh and Luna spoke dreamily, "Because she sounds like a cat meowing."

"Thanks Luna," reacted Dianeia smugly.

Harry decided not to insist, but glanced at his companions. "How are we going to open the rocks then?"

"Don't you play a tiny flute?" Janryu had turned towards Soshlan and the elven fairy almost jumped with fright at the question, but quickly composed himself.

"Yes, I can play," Soshlan replied before removing a small object from his dark green tunic shirt. He placed the little flute to his lips and started to play a nice melody, but nothing happened. Fawkes also produced a song, but nothing happened either. "I think we need harmony," Soshlan pointed with a frown. "And I don't think that me playing with the phoenix singing will work. I think the melody and harmony must be done by people, no offense to your phoenix, Al."

Al laughed. "It's all right. You won't hurt Fawkes' feelings." Fawkes trilled gleefully and flew in circles around them before landing on Al's left shoulder. "The problem is," added Al, "that we need someone to sing while you play. I can't sing, not harmoniously. We need someone to hum or play another instrument in a harmonious way, together with the music from your flute."

Many eyes looked at each other in silence and Soshlan raised an eyebrow. "It's not possible that we are so many and no one can do harmony."

Janryu, who seemed as if he had been holding his breath suddenly sighed in frustration. "I can." His voice was bitter and there was a tinge of pink on his cheeks.

Soshlan cringed, but decided he had no choice than to play and have Janryu hum. "Okay, I'll play the melody and you'll do harmony. Listen to the melody first." Soshlan then played the tune and glanced at Janryu. "Ready?"

Janryu rolled his eyes and nodded. Both started at the same time, Soshlan playing the tune and Janryu humming the same tune, but some octaves over it, creating the much needed harmony. Everyone was impressed by the vampire's sweet humming, but the biggest surprise came when the rocks started to tremble and move apart from each other. At the same time, both Soshlan and Janryu stopped their playing and humming to stare intently at the shifting rocks.

An entrance formed in what had previously been giant rocks put together and Harry took the first step towards the cave-like opening. The others followed suit, still wary about entering what looked like a cavern to them rather than a city.

Damnian was the last to enter the cavern and in seconds the entrance shut behind him. Just when the last glimpse of the late afternoon sunlight was cut, the grayish cavernous surroundings rippled and transformed revealing a wondrous city. Like his companions, Harry looked enthralled as the glorious city was revealed. There were trees, plants and flowers of many species, small animals that hid behind bushes, a bone white coloured brick road, houses, lamposts, and even transportation devices. The city was quite colourful and people walked around and shopped normally. Above the city were thick dark blue lines with cable cars of many shades that went from side to side transporting people. Between the many houses to the far sides, it was obvious that they were in front of an urban area with a shopping district.

Soshlan looked amazed, gaping as he watched the city where his mother was born. He swallowed every detail with his gaze and almost looked like he would burst from excitement. He was swelling with joy, but started to feel uncomfortable when people started to approach them. He quickly wanted to get behind someone, anyone, or even change into something or someone else, but was stopped by a voice.

"You're a halfling." The girl was staring at Soshlan intently, but with a bright smile on her face. She had copper coloured hair down to her waist, very big silvery eyes that reminded of insects even when they were shaped like human eyes, and was dressed in a long robe-like pink dress with long sleeves.

Other people joined the girl and a man with short brown hair frowned at the newcomers. "How were you able to enter our city? Only people from our kind may be able to enter or invite foreigners in. None of you is from our people, not even you." The man glanced at Soshlan when he said the last.

"I was able to read the symbols. My mother taught me the fairy language." Soshlan spoke softly, but sure of himself, even when his voice faltered a little. It was like he was trying to gain courage.

"Your mother did well then," the man replied monotonously. "Follow me."

Harry expected for them to be escorted to a temple like in Phaxeram, but instead they were escorted into a palace that was completely pink and glittery. Harry almost felt it was ridiculous to see a palace of such colouring plus its brilliance almost blinded him. The man spoke again, "This is where the Fairy Queen dwells. I am taking you to her. She will decide whether you are welcome in Fajishmla or not." Harry was about to interrupt the man, but Al's hand grabbed his shoulder. Green eyes locked with blue and Al shook his head, making Harry understand that it would be better to remain quiet for the moment.

After some minutes walking inside the place, they were in front of a golden throne where a beautiful childlike woman sat. She had long wavy bright yellow hair that covered her white robes like a cloak and fell to her sides, covering the lowest parts of the throne. A golden tiara with an amber coloured stone in its center crowned her head. She studied the visitors cautiously and smiled warmly. "Four of you have come from the other world, but one shouldn't be here. There is deep evil roaming between you, but there is also a pure heart." The queen stood, her hair looking even more like a cloak over her as it fell, touching the floor. "The pure heart should remain in this city. It will be for the pure heart's protection. We will save it well."

"No." The queen's smile faded as if she had been slapped and she looked at Harry, the one that had spoken. "None of my companions will remain here. We will stick together."

"But it will be for the pure heart's sake. There is much purity in this kingdom. The pure heart will not be corrupted here, but if it leaves it might get stained eventually. Do it for your companion, please. You must understand. The pure heart should always be left behind with us."

"And I insist, your majesty, in my statement. I won't leave anyone behind."

The queen sighed and lowered her face. Her huge emerald orbs rose then and there was determination on her features. "We'll bargain then. If you truly are worthy of keeping the pure heart with you, you will tell me who has the pure heart within your group. If you choose wisely I will bless you, letting you keep your companion and not only that, I will also give you a summon never obtained by anyone before. But if you fail..." The queen's eyes opened widely. "...the pure heart will remain here with me."

"What if I refuse to bargain?" Harry asked defiantly.

"If you don't know who has the pure heart, you are not worthy of such a companion," the fairy stated sadly.

Harry wanted to refuse, but at the same time he felt she was right. He had to know his companions closely and he couldn't fail in choosing. He looked at Al and saw confusion in Al's eyes. Al quickly whispered, "There was no pure heart within my group so I never experienced this, Harry. Precisely, because there was no pure heart between my companions, I was never able to get the secret summon hidden here. In your case is worse because you wouldn't just lose the summon, but one of your companions too. I'm sorry to be of no help here."

Angelus remained silent when Harry sent an inquisitive gaze in the man's direction. It was evident Angelus was not going to help either so Harry took a deep breath and started to analyze his friends. The first time he had been told about a pure heart he thought it had to be Nemaisse, but now he wasn't sure and worst of all, he couldn't make a mistake. There was only one chance.

Everyone waited for Harry to choose and the queen sat again on her throne, smiling. It seemed that she didn't mind if Harry took a long time choosing. She would wait patiently for Harry to choose wisely.

Dianeia looked at Harry, confusion in her eyes. He looked back at her and thought about her. He loved her very much and he would have liked for her to have a pure heart. She was good and loyal, but he was sure she didn't qualify as a pure heart. She wasn't someone who would love everyone equally and even when she wasn't as prejudiced as her older brother and many of her kind, there was still prejudice in her in small quantities. Harry was sure that if he hadn't been from the other world, Dianeia wouldn't have even seeked him.

Sailka was very new to the group, an elven warrior that Harry hardly knew and as he had been told about the pure heart before she joined them, she was not the one. The same applied to Al, Angelus, and Damnian. Those were easy to eliminate.

Taking another deep breath, Harry continued studying his friends. He gazed at Soshlan. The boy was nice and gentle, but there was still too much prejudice in him. He had accepted his dark companions, but just that morning his prejudice against Janryu had resurfaced.

Janryu stared at the floor while Harry studied him. Janryu was a great companion, but had also rejected Dianeia the first time he saw her and sometimes acted awkward around the light companions. He was better handling prejudice, but he didn't possess the pure heart that Harry seeked.

Nemaisse was young and innocent in many ways, but she had almost rejected Kroy when she met him. When it came to Kroy, the man was mysterious in Harry's opinion. The problem with Kroy was that he was too much of a follower and probably unable to voice wise decisions. The almost quiet man was definitely not the owner of the pure heart, as good and well mannered as he was.

At that moment, Harry realised something. He had just eliminated all of his companions from Larakain. Only Neville and Luna remained and Harry swallowed with dread when he discovered this. He stared at both Neville and Luna, his hands feeling extremely sweaty all of a sudden. His breathing quickened and he got very nervous as he studied his two remaining companions. Luna was smiling at him and Harry was about to choose her, thinking that females were usually purer than males, but something restrained him. His two friends weren't perfect either, but it wasn't perfection that made the pure heart. The pure heart was simply pure because even when feeling terror it wouldn't lash at anyone. It preferred getting hurt rather than hurting others. It was able to stand everything and in truth was full of bravery and was a true Gryffindor, just like Harry. It was very strange, but Harry suddenly saw a light surrounding Neville. The boy looked nervous and almost trembled as he looked at Harry. Without thinking further, Harry grabbed Neville's right arm and with a nervous voice said, "He has the pure heart. I don't understand how I know, but I am sure I'm not wrong."

The fairy queen paled and she stared at Harry incredulously, but recovered from her momentary shock. "You do know your companions well. He is not perfect and may even be frowned upon by others, but he is the owner of a true pure heart. Here." The queen lifted her right palm and a diamond shaped fragment came out of it. It was dark red and sometimes changed to pink and sometimes to white. It floated towards the group and instead of choosing between Harry, Neville, and Luna, it divided itself into four pieces. One of the pieces entered Harry, one entered Neville, one entered Luna and the last one, surprisingly entered Al. Al was taken aback by what happened and looked at Harry perplexed.

"Now," All eyes fell on the fairy queen. "I have gifts for you." A golden staff appeared in Luna's hands and the silver one on her back vanished. Then, golden guns appeared in Neville's belt, replacing the silver ones. "Farewell."

Still dazed about what had happened in the palace, Harry and his friends bought food in the city and abandoned it. It was already night and they were extremely relaxed while heading towards the airship when a gasp made them turn around. Harry's eyes widened in horror when he saw Sailka's form falling to the ground, her eyes open in a deathly stare. Blood started to come from her mouth and Al ran to her. "Sailka! Sailka!" But nothing could be done. The elven warrior was dead and a sudden laugh caused goose bumps in the group. Al's eyes were filled with tears and he yelled at the one laughing. "How could you? How could you, you monster!"

"I've gotten bored of all of you already. Pure hearts? Please! And you, little Al, even though I have nothing against you and I'm certainly not allied to that idiot Nebureth, I'll do him a favour," Damnian laughed yet again and then rolled his eyes.

Al prepared his whip and Fawkes trilled, waiting for Al's signal to combine, but Damnian was very quick and produced transparent threads that held both Al and the phoenix. The threads wrapped themselves ridiculously around Al and even created bows and ribbons that turned thick and red. "Wrapped as a gift for a Dark Lord that desperately wants you. Bye bye, little Al."

Harry was unable to do anything but watch Al and Fawkes disappear in front of his eyes. His breathing was ragged and his heart was beating extremely fast, but he readied his sword and attacked Damnian screaming, even if the attack turned out in vain. Damnian easily produced a shield of threads in front of him and with more threads trapped Harry's golden sword. He then pushed Harry magically against the nearest rock.

Dianeia used her rod to soften the rock before Harry crashed against it, accomplishing her task, but Damnian threw her kiss and then sent her flying against a tree. The evil being then laughed aloud when Neville started to shoot at him with his golden guns and Luna tried using her staff against him. The rest also attacked, but no one was able to lay a single finger on Damnian and were thrown away by a repelling force. There was only one person who wasn't doing anything and it was Angelus. The man simply stared with grief in his eyes.

With a horrendous cackle, Damnian enjoyed his power over the adventurers. Slowly, his beautiful features started to disappear and his body started to enlarge itself like Kroy's did when the half-Draconian turned into a dragon, but it wasn't a dragon that stood in front of the defeated fellowship that was scattered on those grounds. It was a giant black demon that was nothing like the bat demon form that Janryu could take. This monster was gigantic and had black spiral shaped horns. Its eyes were dark violet and it had what looked like spiked wings. The monster had an enlarged muzzle and a tail with a sharp end. A golden ring adorned its nostrils and there were more golden rings hanging from its spiraling horns. There was armour around the monster's chest and more armour formed following a pattern, covering the wings and the four creature's legs. Even when the creature stood on four legs it also had enlarged black monstrous arms with claws instead of hands. Every one of the monster's limbs ended up protected with armour, including its head, which obtained a helmet. The armour shone with a silver colour that contrasted with the pitch black of the creature's skin.

Harry straightened himself in front of the softened rock. If it hadn't been for Dianeia he would have probably had several broken bones. He stared at the monster, his lower lip trembling and the monster's eyes fixed on him. The monster started to laugh in an echoing horrible voice and enlarged its right arm to grab Harry with its claws.

* * *

Thanks to bandgsecurtiyaw and lovenotknown. 


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